Too Much
by skiingclimber
Summary: In the aftermath of the wedding, Emma finds herself falling apart at the seams. There's nothing left and she's tired of believing otherwise, but when an unsuspecting ally begs her to stay, will it be enough?
1. Falling Apart

Laurel heard the front door close and immediately raced to meet her before she could get to the sanctity of her room. She had no idea who was going to show up after the wedding, but she hoped it would be the nice "Sutton."

"Laurel," she responded in surprise, "How's Mom?"

"How do you think she is?" Laurel scolded, "Her marriage is falling apart. My question is why did you have to go to the wedding? What was so important that you had to be there, with her, instead of here with Mom?"

"Alec was arrested for Derek's murder," she explained in defeat, "And I sort of knew it was coming. I had to be there for Thayer and Mads."

"Alec killed Derek," Laurel repeated, "And you knew about it? How many secrets are you keeping?"

"Laurel I'm sorry," she cried, "I want to be honest with you, but you have to trust me when I say this is something you don't want to be involved with. There's a lot of shady stuff surrounding my adoption that I don't want you to deal with right now. I promise in time I'll tell you everything, but right now you have to be okay with being in the dark."

"Sutton I'm your sister. I thought you understood that you could tell me anything…I guess I was wrong."  
Laurel tried to leave, but she grabbed her arm, "Laurel please listen to me. It's not because I don't trust you. It's because I don't want to see you get hurt. Please Laurel, trust me on this one."

"I don't know if I can do that," Laurel admitted, wrenching her arm from her grip, "This sounds dangerous and reckless. If you got hurt I don't what I would do. We've gotten so close over the past few weeks and I just don't want to lose that. Please don't push away from me too."

"I'm sorry," she responded, "It's not up to me."

"Then who is it up to?"

"I can't tell you," she stated, almost crying.

"Fine," Laurel relented starting to walk away, "You know I thought you were different. I thought you understood what being sisters meant. I thought I could count on you. I guess I was wrong about that too."

Laurel heard her choke on her tears and considered turning back to her, but that would kind of defeat the purpose. She wanted her to understand that she wouldn't put up with this from her. Laurel knew she was better than this. She knew that she was capable of compassion and honesty and that was all she wanted from her. She believed in her. She just wanted her to understand that.

* * *

Emma sulked down the hallway to Sutton's bedroom. Laurel was angry with her. Her friends' dad had just gone to jail. Everything was all messed up and confusing. How had things gotten so bad? Why did everything have to be falling apart right now? She shut the door to the bedroom and was about to change into sweats when she saw Sutton sitting on her own bed.

"What the hell, Sutton?"

"It is my room after all," Sutton responded, "How did the wedding go?"

"Alec and Rebecca got married. Then Alec was arrested for Derek's murder. You know typical wedding drama," Emma responded, stepping into the closet to change. She'd already pulled her jacket off and was pulling off her dress as she talked. She grabbed a pair of sweats from the shelf and stepped into them.

"Poor Mads and Thayer. They must be so devastated."

"Since when do you care about anyone but yourself?" She questioned, poking her head out of the closet and sliding her arms into one of Sutton's few cotton tees.

"That hurts Emma."

"I'm sure you'll get over it," Emma responded, walking out of the closet. She stepped over to the jewelry box and took off her earrings and necklace, "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Getting an update on the happenings of my life. I know today was a big day and I'm sure you've told Kristin about the locket so you must be dealing with that as well. I'm just making sure my stand in is still doing okay."

"Seriously Sutton, you're still trying to pull the whole concerned sister thing with me after everything you've done."

"And what exactly have I done?"

"I don't know. Let's start with the letter you wrote to Ted and Kristin making it sound like I was a psychopath hell-bent on stealing your life. Then there's the time you tricked Ethan and lured both him out to the cabin and made out with him in front of me. Finally, to top it all off you took advantage of being alone on that ranch and kissed him again and then lied to both of us about it to tear us apart. That's not even including what you did to everyone else. You have yet to prove you are capable of being honest about anything, so don't expect me to start believing you now."

"Careful Emma," Sutton warned, "Remember it's _my_ life you're living."

"You never let me forget," Emma mumbled, turning away from her sister.

"What is your deal today?"

"Alec was arrested," Emma shouted, spinning back around, "Mads won't talk to me and now Laurel thinks I don't trust her and thanks to you the one person I would talk to is the last person I want to see."

"Ethan? You mean the boy you stole from me," Sutton accused, getting off of the bed and heading toward the window. She whipped her head back around for dramatic effect, "The one that was mine first and you took out from under my nose."

"I did not steal him, Sutton. He chose me."

"And I'm supposed to believe you didn't do anything to persuade him."

"Need I remind you that Ethan and I never slept together," Emma responded taking a step closer to her sister. They were standing nose to nose as she continued, "that he never even got me out of my bra. From what you've seen of my life, do you seriously think I'm some seductress?"

Sutton remained silent.

"He chose to come to Homecoming and he chose to kiss me. He chose me, because I didn't care what people would think if we were together. He hated your games and your lies and how you were stringing him along. He got sick of you treating him like everyone else in your life, like dirt."

Sutton's hand connected with Emma's cheek. Her head turned slightly and Emma immediately reached for the mark, remembering all the other times it had happened. Sutton had less force behind it, but more intensity.

"Looks like we're not so different after all," Emma retorted.

"Don't you dare tell me about my own life," Sutton spat, getting right in her twins face, "I've lived it for 17 years."

Sutton turned away from Emma and walked to the window. Emma was way too tired to deal with this right now. "Just tell me what you really want, Sutton," Emma stated, defeated, "I'm too tired and exhausted to figure it out."

"I told you I'm just checking in. If I had known you were going to attack me I would've just stayed at the cabin."

"Well you know everything that happened. Rebecca and Alec got married. Alec was arrested, and Kristin found out about Rebecca and Ted. All hell has broken loose and we've got a front row seat to it."

"Well that's not very optimistic," Sutton stated, "I thought you were supposed to be ridiculously optimistic or something like that."

"Not a whole lot to be optimistic about, Sutton."

"Sutton," Laurel's voice called from the door, "Can we talk?"

"Just a second," Emma called, then, in a lower voice, "You need to go now. I'll stop by the cabin later. Okay?"

"Fine," Sutton sighed, "I'll leave you to deal with all of this. I mean you are better at it than I am."

"Sutton, go," Emma ordered, pushing her toward the window.

Sutton climbed out and before she could say anymore Emma slammed the window in her face. She was done tolerating Sutton anymore than she had to. She stepped toward the bedroom door and watched Sutton disappear from sight. As soon as she was gone she dared to open it.

Laurel looked at Emma with apologetic eyes, "I'm sorry Sutton. I didn't mean to get upset out there. I just wish you trusted me enough to confide in me."

"Laurel I told you before I do trust you. It's just that I care about you and I couldn't bear it if you got hurt on my account."

"I don't care," Laurel cried pushing past Emma and into the bedroom, "You are obviously carrying some huge secret and it's starting to take its toll. You've been walking around her, looking more and more exhausted by the day. I'm worried about you."

"Well stop," Emma demanded, feeling the tears well up in her eyes, "I don't deserve it."

"You've been there for me more times than I can count recently. Please let me return the favor. What is going on?"

"I'm sorry," Emma cried, "this is not your problem. It's not your fight. It's mine. I'm sorry Laurel, you really do just have to trust me."

"Fine," Laurel relented, "I'll trust you, but realize that I know more secrets about you than you probably even realize."

She stepped past Emma and stormed back out of Sutton's bedroom. How had this gotten so out of control? She was lying to Laurel and she knew it. She was trying to keep herself together with this whole Ethan thing, but failing miserably. Mads didn't want to talk to her. It was all too much. Emma collapsed on Sutton's bed and curled into a ball. The tears began to fall and she had no energy to make them stop.


	2. Letting Go

An hour later, Ethan pulled into the Mercer driveway on his bike, and slowed it to a stop. When he'd seen her and Thayer hugging at the wedding he'd almost lost it. He'd gone back to the trailer to cool off. Begging her to take him back was not something he wanted Thayer to have the satisfaction of seeing and he didn't want to be angry and jealous when he did that. He was okay now and it was time to fight for her.

It was Laurel that came to the door, "You need to leave," she demanded.

"Just tell her I'm here," Ethan begged, "I really need to talk to her."

"Ethan, she's done with you. Why can't you accept that?"

"Because I don't think it's true. Laurel, I love her and I think she still loves me. I need to explain myself."

"I'm sorry Ethan, but she's doesn't want to see you and I won't make her."

Laurel slammed the door in his face. Ethan sighed in defeat, but then realized he had one last chance to speak with her. He jumped off of the porch and headed around to the bedroom window.

He spotted Emma lying on the bed turned away from him. For a moment he almost knocked, but he realized that would give Emma the opportunity to ignore him. He pushed the window open and climbed inside. Emma turned her head and jumped.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Emma questioned.

"I'm not giving up on us," Ethan declared, "We've been through too much to stop now. What do I have to do to prove it to you?"

"You can't, Ethan," Emma shouted, turning away from him, "She keeps getting in the way. If it is this hard then maybe it is not meant to be."

"And maybe the best things are worth fighting for," Ethan declared, "I love you, Emma, not her. I've made mistakes. I've been a complete jackass, but I'm not into her anymore. You are everything I've always wanted and everything I'll ever need. Let me prove it to you."

"You want to prove it to me?"

"Yes," Ethan sighed, "That's all I want right now."

"Walk away," Emma demanded, turning back to him and getting right in his face, "Turn around, get back on your motorcycle, and forget about me. If you really care about me, then you'll walk away right now and never look back."

"That's not going to happen," Ethan promised, grabbing her shoulders gently, "I will fight for you until there is no fight left. I'm not quitting at the finish line."

Emma ripped herself out of his grib and turned away from him, probably to hide her tears. She looked so tired and defeated. This was not the Emma he knew. This was not the Emma he fell in love with and yet he still loved her. It hurt him to see her like this. I killed him to know he was responsible. She finally whispered, "Why can't you just accept that it's over?"

"Because I don't think it is," he responded, taking a step toward her, "I think you still love me and I know I still love you. I have never felt anything this real and I won't lose it now."

"Of course I still love you, Ethan," Emma shouted whipping back around. Tears were streaming down her face as she continued, "That is why this hurts so much. You might think you still love me, but I know you still love Sutton."

"Except that I don't," Ethan shouted, "That kiss proved to me that I don't. There is nothing between us. Sutton is a vindictive, lying, scamming, manipulative bitch. She wanted me for my body and my image, not for me. I didn't love her. I loved the fact that she wanted me. When you and I are together it's like everything stands still. I love you. I love you even when you hate me. I love everything about you. I can't stand the fact that I hurt you."

"Well you did," Emma responded, wiping a tear away from her eye, "and I'm tired of getting hurt."

She walked over to the window and opened it for him, silently signaling for him to leave. Ethan didn't move, "Please Emma."

"I can't," Emma whispered, "It just hurts too much. Everything about this hurts too much. So please, just leave me be."

Ethan crawled out the window, "I'm not letting go, Emma. I love you way too much to do that."

* * *

Emma held back the rest of her tears as she watched Ethan close the window. When he was finally out of sight her legs gave out from underneath her and the tears flowed freely. It was all too much. The lies, the betrayal, everything was just too much. The hell she'd been through down here was ten times worse than anything she'd had to deal with in foster care. At least, she knew where they stood. Down here she had no idea who she could trust.

In that moment she realized what she had to do. She went into the closet and pulled out the purse Dan had found in Ted and Kristin's car. She'd gone through it when Sutton had first gone missing, but the only things in it had been _her_ ID, some cash, and the contents of _her _wallet. She opened it to make sure everything was still in there and placed it in the crook of her arm. She walked out of the closet and grabbed the car keys off of Sutton's desk and stormed out of Sutton's bedroom. She was tired of getting walked on and she was going to do something about it.

* * *

Thayer dropped the keys on the table by the door and headed into the living room. Mads was sitting on the couch looking sullen as ever, "You okay?"

"Dad just got arrested for murder," Mads stated, "How could I possibly be okay?"

"We had to do it, Mads."

"How are you okay with this?"

"I'm not," Thayer admitted, taking a seat next to her, "I don't want this to be true, but the evidence proves otherwise. Our dad is connected to this in some way and we have to find out just how deep this goes."

"Now you don't believe in him either. Thayer, he's our dad. I understand why Emma doesn't trust him, but you? Why are you taking her side?"

"She has a point, Mads. There is something shady going on with him. Maybe Emma was the only one that saw it because she's the only one who isn't connected to all of this."

_Ding-Dong._

Thayer sighed and went to the door. As he pulled it open he smiled, but was still confused, "Emma? What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you and Mads," Emma admitted, "It's important. Is it a bad time?"

"No, come on in."

She stepped past him and walked into the living room. Thayer closed the door and followed her. The girl had obviously been crying and he was genuinely worried about her. She looked exhausted and weak, like she could fall over at any second. As she walked into the living room, however, she looked as she always did: strong. If he hadn't seen the pain in her face, he wouldn't have known something was wrong. As she entered the living room he focused on Mads' face. He saw the surprise on Mads face when Emma walked into the room that then transformed into hurt, "What are you doing here, Emma?"

"I came to say goodbye," Emma admitted, "I can't stay here anymore. I can't live all of these lies and continue to hurt all of the people I care about. This hell that I am living is ten times worse than anything I ever had to endure in fourteen years in foster care. I'm sorry, but I just can't do this anymore."

"So after everything you've been through you're just going to give up?" Thayer questioned, "You're going to let Sutton win."

"She's already won, Thayer. She is pulling the puppet strings and making me dance…and for what? She obviously doesn't want me in her life and I don't think she ever will. I'm tired of kidding myself and I'm tired of living her life for her."

"What about us?" Mads questioned, "You're just going to leave us and never look back. Emma I thought we were friends."

"That's why I'm here," Emma explained, "I don't want you to think that I'm abandoning our friendship. I want you to know that you can call me, text me, or video chat me whenever you want to talk. I do care about you guys and I want to stay even if it's only to stay friends with you, but it just hurts too much. Laurel knows something is going on and I keep lying to her for Sutton's sake. I can't do it anymore. I can't stay where I'm not welcome."

"You're really leaving?" Mads whispered.

"I'm going back to Vegas right after I get my bag from the cabin and tell Sutton what's going on. I'll stay with my friend Lexi until they place me in a new home and I'll get on with my life."

"Is that what you really want?" Thayer questioned.

"Yes," Emma admitted after a pause, "I'm falling apart here trying to please someone who will never accept me. I'm lying to the only people in my entire life I've actually felt close to. It's just too hard. It hurts too much."

Emma wiped a tear from her eye and Thayer realized just how painful this was for her. She didn't want to leave. She wanted to stay and help. She wanted to please everybody, but she just couldn't do it anymore. Emma was in hell here and it wasn't fair to keep her here for his or Mads' sake. He smiled, "Remember that the phone works two ways. If you ever need me you can call."

"Thank you. It means a lot to me."

Thayer pulled her into a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around his torso and squeezed. He smiled and released her when he felt her grip relax. Then she stepped past him toward Mads.

"Mads?"

Mads rolled her eyes, "Come here," she ordered pulling her into a hug, "I'm going to miss you, you know. You were a better friend to me than Sutton ever was."

"I'm still your friend and…I'm sorry about your dad. I honestly didn't want Alec to be involved. If you ever want to talk to me about it I'm only a phone call away."

"I know," Mads admitted, "Let's not talk about that anymore. Do you need a ride to the bus station?"

"That would be great," Emma answered, smiling, "If you or Thayer could follow me to the cabin and then take me there afterward it would make everything a lot easier."

"I'll take you," Thayer offered.

"We'll both take you," Mads corrected, "I really am going to miss you, Emma. Promise to keep in touch?"

"Promise."

The two girls hugged again and Thayer smiled. She'd promised to be there for him and even though she was going back to Vegas, he knew that if he called her she would be there for him. It wasn't fair for him to keep her here when it was obviously painful for her. He had to let her go and he had to be happy for her. It was the best thing for her and probably the best thing for him. He was going to miss her, but it was better if she was not in pain every second of every day.

* * *

Sutton flipped the page of her magazine and snickered at the different red carpet dresses featured in this issue. Sometimes she couldn't help but question people's taste in fashion. A knock came at the door and then Emma barged in, without waiting for Sutton to respond. She didn't say a word. She just walked down the hallway and turned into a bedroom. Of course it would be hers. A few minutes later she emerged with her canvas backpack, dressed in the same clothes in which she'd arrived in Phoenix.

"Hey Emma," Sutton greeted, "It's good to see you, but what are you doing here?"

"Giving you exactly what you've wanted since you got back," Emma responded. She tossed the keys at Sutton. Sutton caught them before they connected with her face, "Here you go. I'm leaving Phoenix and giving you your life back. Thayer and Mads are driving me to the bus station so you can just take you BMW back to your life and never worry about me again."

Rebecca was not going to be happy with this, but then again she really had no control over what her twin sister did. If Emma wanted to go back to Vegas then there was nothing Sutton could do. At least, that's what she was going to tell herself, "So you're just leaving? But why?"

"Because frankly Sutton, I'm over it. I've spent the past couple months trying to please you and I've finally realized that's just not possible. You said it yourself I have no reason to stay. Ethan and I are over and you are never going to accept me into your life. I'm done kidding myself into thinking otherwise."

"Emma wait," Sutton called as Emma tried to leave.

"What?"

"Good luck in Las Vegas," Sutton stated without emotion.

Emma rolled her eyes, "Good luck with your life. You're gonna need it."

She disappeared out the door. When it slammed, Sutton realized what had just happened. She had gotten everything she wanted and yet it felt like she'd gotten nothing. Emma was gone, Ethan was about to be hers, and she knew who her mother was. Everything was perfect, so why did she feel so alone?


	3. Things Change

The following morning Emma hopped off of the bus in Las Vegas and scanned the platform for Lexi. She'd called when she was getting on the bus and asked her to pick her up. Lexi had agreed, but not without questioning her why she was coming back. Emma had promised to explain everything and now she was going to have to follow through on that.

"Emma," Lexi called. She was standing off to the side waving her hand for Emma to see. Emma walked over to her friend and hugged her tightly when she got close enough. They finally pushed away from each other, "Okay now don't get me wrong. I'm stoked you're back even if I did have to pick you up at six o' clock in the morning, but I thought you were trying to make it work with Sutton. What changed?"

"She doesn't want me in her life and I'm tired of trying to change her mind."

"There's got to be more to it than that. The Emma I know doesn't walk away from something that means that much to her because she's tired."

Emma took a deep breath. She could not start crying right now, "It just didn't work out, okay?"

"Okay. I get it you don't want to talk about it," Lexi stated, sincerely, "but right now we have to get home. My mom is going to be so excited to see you again."

* * *

Sutton walked into the kitchen, expecting to see the usual Sunday spread for breakfast. Instead, the kitchen was completely deserted. The truth was seriously screwing up her life now. Why couldn't her mother just get over it and move forward? Her dad had cheated. It wasn't like the world ended. She rolled her eyes in frustration and then walked back to her room. She nearly crashed into Laurel in the process, "Watch it," Sutton exclaimed.

"Sorry," Laurel retorted before heading back down the hall, "Oh by the way, Mom's doing fine in case you were wondering, considering you disappeared yesterday afternoon and didn't get home until late."

"I was dealing with some…stuff," Sutton responded.

"Right, more secrets from the queen herself. You know Sutton one of these days all of your lies are going to catch up with you and no one is going to be around to save you."

Laurel headed for their mom's bedroom and Sutton almost considered going with, but then she remembered what she had so aptly avoided the night before. She needed to talk to Rebecca. She slid into her bedroom and was about to grab the phone off of the nightstand, when she saw Thayer at the window, looking furious.

She rolled her eyes and opened it for him, "Are you going to yell at me, because it is way too early for that."

"How could you just let her leave? How could you send your own sister packing?"

"If I'm not mistaken, you're the one that drove her to the bus station."

"To say goodbye, because she was so fed up with you hurting her that she couldn't stay here anymore. You know I knew the two of you had problems, but to just let her leave as if it was there was nothing wrong with that. She's your sister, Sutton. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"You just want her here so you can make a move on her now that Ethan's out of the picture. I mean she is the better twin, isn't she?"

Thayer sighed, "This is not about her being better than you. This is not about your jealousy toward her. This is about you doing the right thing for once in your life. She is your sister and all she wants is for you to want her in your life."

"She wants my life," Sutton retorted spinning around.

"You don't get it, Sutton. Everything Emma has done here has been for you and your friends. Remember, you asked her to take your place. She came down here asking you for help and you manipulated her so you could follow a lead on your birth mother. She kept up the act for weeks so your parents wouldn't know you were gone."

"Perfect little Emma, so kind and considerate," Sutton spat, "She never has an ulterior motive. She's so straight forward with people."

"She is," Thayer interrupted, "The whole reason she was here was to help you. The whole reason she came her was to get support from the only family she had. She needed your help and you used it against her."

"If she's so perfect, then why did I go to juvie?" Sutton questioned, getting right in Thayer's face, "Why, when I tried to explain everything, did her social worker completely write me? Someone who is honest and straightforward doesn't get into that sort of trouble."

"Have you ever asked her what happened?"

"I know what happened," Sutton responded, backing away from him to put a little space between her and him. She was getting emotional and she didn't want Thayer to see just how much, "She assaulted her foster brother after getting accused for stealing and then ran from the cops. I admit the rest of the charges are my fault, but the original warrant was entirely hers."

"Sutton, she assaulted her foster brother because he tried to assault her. He set her up for stealing and then came after her. She hit him with a tennis racquet to keep him from touching her."

"Is that what she told you?"

"It's not the only time he's come after her. He attacked her in your bedroom while you were in Vegas. She was nearly assaulted while pretending to be you, because she tried to protect your family and your secret."

"You are just as bad as Ethan, you know. You forget about me as soon as the better version comes along."

"I could never forget about you, Sutton," Thayer muttered, starting to leave the room, but then he stopped and turned back, "Oh and Sutton, I'm not in love with her. Her heart belongs to someone else, and so does mine."

He slammed the window behind him, leaving Sutton with a lot to think about. Since when did Thayer have a backbone with her and what did he mean by that last statement? In reality she knew what it meant. She just didn't want to admit it. Suddenly, she became aware of a tear streaming down her face. She brushed it away before it could scald her anymore and tried to redirect her attention. She grabbed the phone off of the nightstand and dialed Rebecca's number.

"Hello," Rebecca answered, seeming a little confused as to why she was calling so early.

"Can you talk?"

"Go on," Rebecca demanded.

"Emma left last night. She's gone back to Vegas."

"And you just let her?"

"What was I supposed to do? There is a reason we decided to keep this a secret. She wanted to go and I wasn't going to get in her way."

"Fine," Rebecca conceded, "but eventually you are going to have to get her back in Phoenix."

"Why?"

"Because she's my daughter too and I want to have a relationship with her. I won't push you, because I know how much she hurt you, but there will come a time when you will have to bring her back."

* * *

Lexi threw the door to her home open and held it so Emma could walk in. Her mom, no doubt, had already left for work and wouldn't be home until late. It gave Lexi a little time to find out what had happened. Emma had been ridiculously silent the whole ride. She stared out the window, answering Lexi's question with one word or not at all.

Emma stepped through the door and collapsed onto the couch in the living room. She looked so drained and so defeated. Lexi hadn't seen Emma like this in a long time. She took a seat on the couch next to her, "Ems, what happened?"

"Same thing that always happens to me," Emma responded, not looking at her. Her voice cracked a little with the tears she was holding back and Lexi instantly felt bad for her, "I trust someone I shouldn't and I end up getting hurt."

"I don't get it. When Sutton left here she was upset, but she seemed like she wanted to make things right. She felt bad about sending that letter. She seemed like she wanted to figure it all out."

"Well something changed, because the next time I saw her she was making out with Ethan and accusing me of stealing her life."

A tear streaked Emma's cheek and Lexi's heart broke a little. She had honestly believed Sutton was a good person deep down. She had thought they could work things out.

"And that's only the beginning. Lexi I tried so hard to make it work with Sutton, but she didn't want that. She wanted me gone, out of her life. She thought I was trying to steal it. She was never going to accept me. I was kidding myself thinking otherwise."

"Does this mean you're never going back?"

"Unless Mads or Thayer desperately need me, no I'm not. I do care about them and I promised to be there for them. I won't go back on that promise. Other than that there was nothing keeping me there."

"What about Ethan?"

"We broke up after he nearly slept with Sutton and then lied to me about it. We were half naked in a hotel room before he finally said something."

"Are you say you almost..."

"Lost my virginity? Yes. I was going with Laurel, Sutton's sister, to Coachella and the van broke down. He came over to my hotel room while everyone else was gone and we were about to when he admitted to it. This is also after he promised nothing had happened."

"What did you get yourself into?"

"Hell," Emma stated simply, "Lexi, I know I'm not entirely innocent. I did, unintentionally, steal my sister's boyfriend. I made her feel like I was stealing her life. I hurt her and that is on me, but it wasn't on purpose. Everything she did to me was deliberate. She wanted to hurt me over and over again. I finally got sick of taking it."

"I can't believe I misjudged her that badly."

"You're not alone, Lexi. She fooled all of her friends."

"She really hurt you."

"She kept dangling her family in front of my face and every time I finally let myself believe it was possible she would pull it away just a little farther. She was baiting me and I let her. God, how could I be so stupid?"

More tears fell and Emma turned to wipe them away. She couldn't understand the hell Emma had been through in these past few months. She looked exhausted. There were dark circles under her eyes. Her shoulders sagged. Sutton had broken her. Lexi grabbed Emma's shoulders and forced her to look at her, "You are not stupid. You believed her because she was your family. You've wanted that for so long and for the first time in a long time you actually let yourself believe it was possible. You're not stupid for that. You're wiser for it."

Emma choked on her tears and Lexi pulled her into a hug. At first, Emma didn't reciprocate. Her head was buried in her hands and her shoulders were shaking. Then Lexi felt her hands wrap around her shoulders and she smiled. At least Emma still trusted her.


	4. Come Again?

Ethan hopped onto the Mercer porch and rang the doorbell. It was a little early, but Emma was always up by nine, even on weekends. He hoped Emma would answer the door this time. He really didn't want to get the run around from Laurel again. The door swung open and it wasn't Laurel that answered it, but it wasn't Emma either.

"Sutton," he stated.

"How did you know?"

"Emma doesn't look like a manipulative bitch," Ethan spat.

"Ouch," Sutton responded, feigning hurt, and closing the door behind her.

"Where is she, anyways? Did you finally throw her out for good?"

"Actually, she left. Came by the cabin last night and tossed the keys in my face. She's gone back to Vegas."

"She left?"

"I know, shocking right. After all of her talk about not being done with this family she just left. Sad, but there was nothing I could do to stop her."

"More like nothing you wanted to do. You've been stringing her along this whole time. My bet is she finally realized you were never going to give her what she wanted most."

"Maybe, but I guess she'll never find out what I was planning. Anyways, now that she's gone there's nothing stopping us from…picking up where we left off."

She took a step toward Ethan and tried to pull him into a kiss, but Ethan was prepared. He grabbed her arm and pushed her backward. She slammed into the front door, "Don't ever touch me again," Ethan ordered, getting right in her face, "I already told you my feelings for you are gone and they are never coming back. Whether Emma is here or not it doesn't change the fact that you will always be the same lying, secretive bitch you've always been."

Ethan hopped off of the porch, not letting her reply and slid onto his motorcycle. Emma had left without saying goodbye. It hurt, but he wasn't exactly surprised. He had hurt her and that was probably part of the reason why she left. He still wasn't giving up on her. He loved Emma. He always would. He just needed to prove it to her.

* * *

Mads slid through the photos on her iPad one more time. She smiled at the ones of Emma and glowered at the ones of Sutton. It was Sutton's fault Emma was gone. At first, Mads had been angry that Emma wanted to leave. She felt like she was abandoning them, but when she saw how much it hurt her to say goodbye, she couldn't stay angry. Emma was her friend and she hated to see her friends in pain.

She heard someone thump down the stairs and wasn't surprised it was Thayer. He smiled at her, "Emma texted me," he explained, "She made it to Vegas and even gave me her address. She promised to send me her new one when she got placed."

"She's really gone, isn't she?"

"Yeah," he stated, taking a seat next to his sister, "Are you okay with it?"

"I have to be. You saw how much pain she was in staying here. She promised to be there for us. Just because she's in a different state doesn't mean she's going back on that. I just wish things could've been different."

"Me too. She was a good friend."

"Are you're sure that's all you wanted her to be?"

"You know I'm in love with Sutton. I always will be. Emma is a good friend and I love her like I love you. I want to protect her, but I don't want to date her."

"Could've fooled me. You two were getting very close after her and Ethan broke up."

"She needed someone to talk to, but her heart belongs to Ethan. It always will. I told her a long time ago that she and Ethan were made for each other. I'm a good friend, that's all."

"If you say so. Now what are we going to do about Sutton?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think I could stand to be in the same room as her. She drove Emma away, she hasn't exactly been a good friend to me, and she has burned all of us too many times. I don't know if I can forgive her for everything she's done."

"You don't have to. You know I'll never be able to completely hate Sutton, but you get to walk away from her if you want. She did lie to you and she did try and seduce your boyfriend. I'm not going to say you have to let it go, but maybe there is more to this than we know."

"Until she decides to be completely honest with me, I can't be friends with her. It just hurts too much."

"Then don't. Mads it's up to you whether you forgive her or not, just like it's up to her whether she asks for it."

Thayer got up and headed back upstairs. He was a good brother and she was sorry for even thinking he was trying to screw over their father. She flipped to the last photo in the series. It was Emma and Thayer at the wedding. They were hugging each other as a brother and sister would. Apparently, Thayer was telling the truth. He loved her like a sister, but that was all. Then she saw something she never expected to see that suddenly answered a lot of her unspoken questions.

* * *

Laurel slowed the car to a stop outside of the one place she never expected to find herself. She closed the door to her car and walked up to the door of Ethan's trailer. It took him a minute but he answered and was probably as surprised to see her there, as she was to be there.

"Laurel? What are you doing here?"

"You have to fight for her," Laurel demanded.

"For who?"

"You know who," Laurel responded, "You still love her and she still loves you. You have to get her back."

"I thought you were the one who said I should accept that it was over."

"She was hurting. She didn't trust you. After everything she's done for me I wasn't going to force her to face you. She was the best sister I've ever had. I need you to get her back."

"What are you talking about?"

"I know," Laurel admitted.

"Know what?"

"I know about Emma."


	5. Fighting Back

"You know?" Ethan questioned, closing the door to his trailer. Thank god Dan was at work right now. He really didn't want to deal with his questions on top of his own.

"Not everything," Laurel admitted, "but enough."

"When did you figure it out?"

"I don't know exactly. I always suspected there was something off, but then I overheard you and Emma talking about Sutton and the switch and it all sort of clicked."

"Does Emma know you know?"

"No," Laurel stated simply, "I had a feeling Emma didn't want me to know. I thought about it when I realized they'd switched back but when I heard you and Sutton talking about Emma at school I let it be. I figured Sutton would tell the truth when she was ready and I could admit it then."

"So why are you all of a sudden on my side? If you were on Emma's you would be telling me to stay away."

"I heard what you said to Sutton this morning. I know you meant it and I know that you are what kept Emma going in the first place. I need her, Ethan. She's been there for me. Now I want to return the favor. Will you help me?"

Ethan sighed. He wanted her back, but if Emma left it was because she was tired of feeling pain. It wasn't up to him whether Emma came back, but this was a chance to prove how much she wanted her.

"There's two other people we have to let in on this," Ethan noted, "Mads and Thayer are her friends too. If we are planning to get her back they should be in on it."

"Does that mean you're in?"

"I guess it does," Ethan conceded.

Laurel smiled and pulled him into a hug. He was a little hesitant to reciprocate the gesture. This was Sutton's sister after all. In the end, he hooked his arms around her shoulders, but didn't squeeze. Laurel was a reason Emma would come back, but was it fair to make her do so?

* * *

Ted knocked on the door to his own home, hoping Kristin would let him in. It had been a mistake and he needed to explain that to Kristin. Laurel had sent him away yesterday, but he refused to give up. He wanted to tell Kristin the truth. He wanted to tell her everything.

The door swung open to reveal his wife standing in her sweats, "You need to leave, Ted. This hurts too much."

"I just want to explain myself."

"What's there to explain? You lied to me for seventeen years. You made me believe that Justin's mom was my fault. Am I just supposed to forgive you?"

"I'm sorry," Ted breathed, "I thought I was protecting you, protecting our family. I thought I was doing what was best."

"By lying to me? How is that what's best?"

"I know I was wrong now. Kristin this is exactly what I was trying to avoid. I never meant to hurt you or our daughters. I screwed up. Please, just give me a chance to make it right."

"I'm sorry, but it just hurts too much right now."

Kristin shut the door in his face and for the second time, Ted crumbled on the doorstep. How could he make this up to her? He'd lied to her for seventeen years. There was so much he needed to tell her and she wouldn't even let him in the house. He'd worn the same clothes for two days now. He deserved it, but it didn't make it any easier. He needed to explain himself. He needed to make things right. He just wasn't sure how he could do that.

* * *

"You knew," Thayer said, "You've known about Emma and you haven't said a word?" They were standing in the Ryback living room. Ethan had come over with Laurel in tow, begging them to hear him out. He'd, reluctantly, let him in. He wanted to know why Laurel was with him. It was a good thing he did.

"Either she or Sutton obviously didn't want me to know. I was content to have her think I was on the outside of all of this chaos."

"How did you figure it out?"

"First of all, Emma and Sutton are two completely different people. The complete personality change got me suspicious. Second of all, you people suck at controlling your volume. You don't know how many conversations I've eavesdropped on from outside Sutton's door."

"So how much do you know?"

"I know Emma and Sutton are twins. I know they switched places. That's about it. Most of what I heard didn't make a lot of sense. I would only catch bits and pieces of the conversation."  
"If you've known all of this time," Mads started, "then why are you coming forward now?"

"I knew Sutton and Emma had switched back. Sutton completely chewed me out for bumping into her in the hallway. I thought she was just hiding out somewhere, but then I overheard Ethan and Sutton talking this morning. When I heard she'd gone back to Vegas I realized how much I needed her. I want her back and I don't care what Sutton thinks about it."

"Unfortunately, Emma does," Thayer explained, "Laurel, she can't be here. It's too painful for her. Sutton doesn't want her in her life. She hates Emma for stealing Ethan. Emma won't force herself on Sutton and Sutton won't accept her. Emma has been through enough. We can't make her go through it again just for our sake."

"I know," Laurel admitted, "I've thought about this a lot. My thought is that if she knows she has this many people on her side she might come back."

"It's not whether we're on her side," Thayer began, "It's whether Sutton is. She won't be apart of your family unless Sutton wants her to be."

"Look, I don't know what exactly all of you are mixed up in, but I know you miss her as much as I do. I know you are trying to be the good friends and let her go, but I don't think that's what she wants in the end. She wants to be here and she wants to know there are people who are going to fight for her."

"So what do you propose we do?" Mads questioned.


	6. Taking Control

Six hours later, Lexi opened the door to her house to find a strange boy standing on her porch. He looked to be about her age, but she didn't go to school with him. Who the hell was he?

"Sorry to disturb you," the boy started. She could hear a slight lisp when he spoke that made him somewhat adorable, "but I was wondering if Emma was available."

"Who wants to know?" Lexi questioned defensively.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Emma's voice cut through the background.

"Ems, who is this?"

"His name's Thayer," Emma explained, "He's from Phoenix."

"Do you want me to slam the door in his face?"

"No it's okay," Emma responded, trying to contain her laughter, "Thayer, what are you doing here?"

"We want you to come back to Phoenix," he explained, "We want you to know that we're on your side and that we'll be there for you just like you were there for all of us."

"What do you mean by us?"

"There're three other people waiting for you."

"Three? You're not telling me Sutton came with as well."

"Sutton has no idea we're here. Just come out and see for yourself."

Lexi and Emma stepped out in front of Lexi's house. There was a girl who looked a lot like Thayer, a boy with long, shaggy, but not unkempt hair, and a blonde that didn't seem to fit with the rest of them.

"Laurel?"

"Hey Emma," the blonde greeted taking a step toward them, "I guess it's nice to finally meet you as you."

"You told Laurel?" Emma responded, sounding irritated.

"She told us," Ethan admitted, "Laurel's known for a long time and has kept the secret for you."

"Why didn't you say something?"

"I kept trying to get you to tell me," Laurel retorted, stepping up to Emma, "I kept saying you could tell me anything and that you could trust me. God, yesterday I even said I know more secrets than you probably even realize. I figured you would tell me when you were ready. Until then I did my best to keep you up to date on what Sutton would and wouldn't do as nonchalantly as I could. I'm sorry I lied to you, but I could tell you didn't want me involved and I was okay with that."

Emma pulled this Laurel character into a hug. She knew Laurel was Sutton's sister, but apparently they were nothing alike. Laurel had a sweet innocence, similar to Emma's actually. She honestly cared about Emma and what happened to her.

"Laurel is the one that convinced us to drive up here," Mads explained, pushing off of the car, "We were trying to give you what you wanted when we let you go, but then she pointed out that wasn't the case at all. Emma, you deserve to get everything and more. We're not going to let your stubbornness or Sutton's grudge keep you from getting the family you deserve."

"What about you?" Emma gestured to the shaggy haired boy, taking a step toward him, "Why are you here, Ethan?"

"That's Ethan," Lexi interrupted.

Emma nodded, "How did you even find out I was gone? Did you have to get Sutton to kiss you to figure that one out?"

"No," Ethan answered coolly, "She had to open her door."

Emma was silent.

"I can tell the two of you apart," Ethan stated, almost hurt by the accusation, "I know exactly who I want to be with. I want _you_, Emma. I love _you_: your laugh, your smile, everything. I can't stand to be without you, Emma and I'm pretty sure you feel the same way."

"It doesn't change what you did," Emma whispered, trying to hold back the tears.

"Emma," Laurel called, "I know he hurt you, but he's telling the truth. It's up to you, but for what it's worth, I'm pretty sure he's over her for good."

"I made a mistake," Ethan admitted, "and then I made an even bigger one by lying to you about it. I'm sorry, Emma. Just please don't leave all of this behind because of me or Sutton."

"He's right," Lexi interrupted again.

"What?" Emma questioned, turning to face Lexi.

"Emma, all day you have been sulking around my house like a zombie or passed out in my bed. This is not what you want. You want them. You want that family. You want to belong, and you don't belong here."

"But what about Sutton. She hates me."

"Since when does it matter to you if someone hates you?" Lexi questioned, "Emma, you are the strongest person I know. You can handle Sutton, just like you handled all of the other mean girls."

"They weren't my sisters."

"And neither is Sutton at this point. She's been out to get you this whole time. Do sisters treat each other that way? Ems, I treat you like more of a sister than she does. You have to go back and show her she really can't walk all over you."

"You think that will earn her respect."

"It's not about her respect anymore. It's about yours. Don't let her win. Show her that you're not going anywhere. Prove to her that she was wrong about you in the first place."

Emma smiled, "You're a good friend, Lexi."

"I know, now get going. You've got a long drive back home."

"I'm really going to miss you, Lex."

"You can always come back and visit," Lexi reminded, "Or at some point, maybe I'll head down there."

They hugged and Lexi thought she might cry. She always knew there was a chance Emma would leave her behind, but she knew this is what Emma needed. These people were her family. She could handle Sutton. She just had to believe in herself. Emma pushed away and wiped a tear from her eye, "Thank you for everything, Lexi. You've been a great friend."

"I always will be," Lexi answered, "remember that Emma. I'll always be there for you, no matter what."

Emma smiled, "I won't."

They hugged again and this time Lexi felt the tears flow easily. She would miss her best friend, but she knew this wouldn't be the last time they talked. She would make sure of that. Emma was a sister to her, but she deserved more than what she had in Vegas. She deserved the family she'd always dreamed of having. She was happy for Emma and that's all that really mattered.

* * *

Ted knocked on the door for the second time that day. This time he had actually been invited over. Kristin had called him begging him to come over. He didn't know what it was about, but he wasn't going to miss the opportunity to talk to her.

Kristin swung the door open, "Thank god you're here," she remarked, "I'm losing my mind, Ted. Laurel is gone and I don't know what to do about it."

"What do you mean gone?" He questioned, as he followed her to the kitchen.

"She's gone. She left."

Kristin handed him a note. He took it from her hands and started to read aloud, "Dear Mom, There's something I've gotta do and I can't tell you what it is, at least not yet. I don't know when I'll be home, but know that I'm safe. Don't grill Sutton about this either. She knows nothing about it. Love you, Laurel."

"Ted, I'm scared. Her cell phone is off. I have no idea who she's with. What if something happens?"

"I think we have to trust her," Ted realized.

"What?"

"Don't get me wrong. She's going to be in serious trouble when she gets home, but for now I think we need to trust that she'll be okay. She says she's safe. She says she's coming back. I think we have to wait and see what happens."

"Now you decide to be a trusting parent?" Kristin exclaimed.

"What do you want me to say, Kristin? We can't do anything about this. The cops are going to tell us the exact same thing. We can either worry ourselves sick over it or wait and see what happens."

"You're right," Kristin conceded, "I'm sorry. I just can't believe Laurel would do something this irresponsible. It's just not like her."

"I know," Ted responded, unsure if he should hug her or not. He grabbed her shoulders tenderly, "It's going to be okay, Kristin. If she's not home in the next few hours we'll call the police, okay? For now, let's just get comfortable and wait for our daughter to come home."

Kristin nodded and Ted headed to the kitchen. He pulled a bottle of Pinot Noir out from under the sink and smiled to her.

"Take off the edge a little," he suggested.

Kristin didn't smile, but she did grab two glasses from the cabinet behind him and let him pour her a large glass.

* * *

"Have you seen Mads today?" Rebecca questioned Sutton. They were sitting in Rebecca's, well Phyllis' living room. They needed to discuss what they were going to do about Emma. They needed to get her back, but her existence had to remain a secret. It was vital to the plan. She'd been staring out the window, pretending to listen to whatever Sutton had been going on about when she realized she hadn't heard from either Mads or Thayer.

"Are you kidding? Mads, is still angry with me for not telling her about Emma. She hasn't spoken to me since I got back from the ranch."

"It's just weird," Rebecca stated, "Both her and Thayer have been gone all day. You don't think they went to Vegas to bring Emma back."

"They're the ones that drove her to the bus station. They know just like I do there was no changing her mind. They wouldn't drive all the way up to Nevada the day after they dropped her off. They care about her too much."

"What exactly did she say when she left?"

"Well she threw my car keys at me and said she was heading back to Vegas. She said she couldn't handle the pressure anymore. Something about nothing keeping her here."

"And you didn't think telling her about me would've kept her in town."

"I thought we were keeping that on the DL. Remember, you wanted to get your revenge and I wanted to get mine. If we brought Emma into the fold, she could ruin both of our plans."

"But now that she's gone, you have to live your life. Before, Emma could be where you needed to be, while you gathered information. Now that she's gone you have to do all of that."

"Why can't you?"

"Because I'm not on the inside. You could guide them to all of the clues before while Emma pretended to be you. Now they have to find them on their own. You can't push them to what we want them to find."

"I'll figure out a way to make it work without Emma."

"It can't last forever," Rebecca reminded, "Sooner or later you will have to tell her the truth about me."

"Don't remind me," Sutton muttered, glancing out the window. Would this girl ever stop ruining her plans?


	7. The Reveal

Kristin glanced at the clock again. It was verging on 10 o' clock at night. Sutton had called an hour ago to say she would be home late. Apparently, she was hanging out with Mads to keep her mind off of her dad going to jail. Kristin had thanked her for checking in, but had not mentioned her missing sister. Laurel had been clear that Sutton knew nothing about it and there was no reason to worry her when she couldn't help. She paced the living room, unable to sit still while she waited for her daughter to return.

"You need to calm down," Ted demanded, from his seat on their white couch, "Laurel will be fine."

"What if she's not?" Kristin spat, "What if something is seriously wrong?"

Ted was silent. He had no comfort for her, because he was probably thinking the exact same thing.

"It's just hard," Kristin sighed, taking a seat next to him, "I mean is it our fault? Did she leave because of what's going on with us?"

"It's not your fault. I'm the one that screwed up and lied to you."

"Why did you lie to me? Did you think I wouldn't forgive you?"

"That's probably part of it," Ted admitted, standing up, and beginning to pace, "I think in reality I just never thought you'd find out. I ended it and never expected anything to bring it back up."

"Why did it start in the first place?"

"We were fighting all of the time. She was helping me talk about it, but it had just been as friends. That trip to Santa Barbara happened after one of our huge fights. I left for the weekend so that we could cool off. She met me there so we could talk. I got really drunk and it went too far. It was a mistake that I've regretted ever since."

"Only once?"

"Only once. After that I broke it off."

"Why?"

"Things got better between us," He admitted, taking a seat next to her, "We started working through our problems and it seemed like we both wanted to move on."

"But why Rebecca? Why did you pick her?"

"Rebecca? No, I didn't sleep with Rebecca. I'm sure she wanted that but she's not the person I cheated on you with."

"Then why have you been so weird around her? Why have you been avoiding her like the plague?"

"She was the one that blackmailed me about it. Rebecca was obsessed with me in high school and it followed me to LA. She was there in Santa Barbara. She had pictures of us at the bar. She wouldn't leave me alone about it. She kept threatening to tell you if I didn't do as she asked. She wanted me for herself and she was going to stop at nothing to get it. Finally, I asked Alec to help me take care of it. I don't know how he did, but he made her stop contacting me. She dropped off of the map and I thought I was safe."

"Then who did you sleep with?"

"Her name was Annie Hobbs and the story isn't over quite yet," he got back up off of the couch. Kristin could tell he was nervous by the way he couldn't stay in one place. He was coming clean about a lot of secrets he'd been keeping from her and he wasn't sure how she would react. Finally, he sighed, "The phone call I got right before Justin's mom surgery was from Annie. She was telling me that she was pregnant. I didn't believe her at first, but then I realized it was possible. I went to meet her. All of a sudden our problems were solved. Annie wasn't fit to take care of a child and you and I wanted one. It was just a matter of setting it up as quietly as possible."

"So you're telling me that Sutton is…"

Ted nodded, "Sutton is my biological daughter."

* * *

Sutton pushed the front door open and made a beeline for her bedroom. This day had been draining and she really just wanted to curl up and fall asleep. Emma was going to have to come back eventually and she was going to have to tolerate it. She didn't want to think about that though. She wanted to enjoy the time she had without Emma.

"Laurel?" Her mom called.

Sutton rolled her eyes. _Of course they thought it was her_, "No," Sutton responded, "It's just me."

She poked her head in the living room, shocked to find her dad standing in the living room.

"Dad, what are you doing here?"

"Waiting for your sister to come home," her dad explained. Even though he stopped talking, she could tell there was more to this. She stood there, hoping he would continue without her encouragement. He finally said, "Sutton, there is something you should know about your birth parents."

"Really?" Sutton questioned, smiling. She was about to hear everything she already knew from the person who should have told her in the first place, "And what might that be?"

"Your birth mother is not Ruth Peterson. Her name is Annie Hobbs."

"Come again?"

"That's not all. I'm your biological father."

That part was expected. It only made sense for him to be her father if he had an affair with her mother, but what didn't make sense was why he was still lying about her mother. She was really getting tired of all of these secrets. She just wanted him to tell her the truth, "You're lying," she declared, "Annie Hobbs is not my mother. She told me she wasn't."

"When did you talk to Annie?"

_Crap!_ Sutton couldn't tell them the truth now. It meant coming clean about everything else. Emma had to remain a secret, "Well, I, I just…"

"Mom," Laurel's voice came through the silence and Sutton watched the attention immediately leave her. It was the first time she was glad no one was looking at her. Both her mom and dad turned to see Laurel standing in the doorway.

"Where the hell have you been?" Her mom questioned, "Your father and I were worried sick."

"I'm sorry, but there was something I had to do and I knew if I told you first you wouldn't let me go."

"And what exactly was that?"

She looked over her shoulder and Sutton heard footsteps coming in behind her. A figure came out of the shadows and Sutton gasped when she realized whom Laurel had with her. Emma came to stand next to Laurel and Sutton's heart sank.

* * *

A/N: I would really appreciate some feedback on this story. Either negative or positive. I just want to know what all of you think. Thanks for all of the support and I hope you're enjoying it so far.


	8. Painful Revelations

Emma watched Kristin and Ted's faces very carefully. Kristin looked surprised. Ted looked like he'd just seen a ghost. For a minute everyone was just silent, not knowing where to begin and then she heard Sutton say, "What the hell are you doing here?"

She turned her attention to her sister and smiled, "Now is that any way to greet your twin sister?"

"Twin? Ted, what's she talking about?" Kristin questioned, but nobody responded. The exchange between Emma and Sutton was far more interesting than answering her questions.

"I thought you were going back to Vegas," Sutton responded. She was trying to back track and in Emma's opinion, failing at it. She looked petrified. She was losing control of the situation and she was trying to get it back. She kept smiling at her, ready to fight for what she deserved.

"I did. Laurel brought me back."

"You were in Vegas," Kristin shouted, "That's where you disappeared to. Laurel, what were you thinking."

"Oh and this isn't a good reason. I went to bring back Sutton's twin sister. The same one she drove away in the first place."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Laurel," Sutton accused.

"I know you—"

"Laurel," Emma stopped her, "Don't."

Emma didn't want to go there. She didn't want to reveal all of the horrible things Sutton had done in the past few weeks in front of her parents. She would not stoop to that level and she wouldn't let Laurel go there either. She wasn't Sutton. She hoped she never would be.

"Emma," Laurel sighed.

"It's not your fight, Laurel. I appreciate the help, but I can handle this. I can handle her."

Laurel nodded and backed off. She took a step behind Emma, letting her take the floor. It was now or never. This was her chance to fight for what she wanted on her terms, not Sutton's. This was her chance to do this they way it always should've been done: honestly.

"I'm Emma Becker," Emma explained, looking at Kristin and Ted, "and I'm Sutton's twin sister."

"After everything you told me tonight you decided to leave out the fact that Sutton has a twin?" Kristin accused. She was looking at Ted with so much fury that even Emma flinched at her tone. She did not want to be in Kristin's line of fire right now.

Ted's eyes were wet with tears. Emma thought it might be from the anger in Kristin's voice, or the fear of his whole world crashing down, but she soon realized that wasn't the case. Ted was looking at her and smiling. He walked over to her and grabbed her shoulders, "You...You're alive," He breathed.

He hugged Emma tightly and things started to make sense for Emma. He knew about the fire, but he didn't know she'd escaped. He wasn't the one that had talked to Annie. There may be a chance for redemption yet. She wrapped her arms around him, as he whispered, "I can't believe it. I can't believe I didn't know."

"Ted, tell me what is going on."

"Emma was supposed to go to a family in Beverly Hills," Ted began, turning back to face Kristin, "but somehow Annie managed to get her back. 14 years ago, there was a fire," his eyes kept darting from Kristin to Emma and back. He couldn't take his eyes off the daughter he'd never had the chance of knowing, "I was told that she had died. I didn't tell you about Emma because I didn't think it mattered enough to put myself through that pain again. No one was supposed to find out about her."

"So she gets adopted, kidnapped by her own mother, and then someone fakes her death in a fire."

"Alec," Ted corrected, "Alec faked her death."

"Alec's involved with this? Am I seriously the last to know everything? Ted, how could you do this to me?"

Ted was silent. He couldn't even look at his wife and Emma understood why. Kristin should've been the first to know. She should've known 17 years ago when it all happened. Ted knew that. He'd known it all along and he didn't know what to say to make it okay. As the tension filled the air, she found herself thinking about something Kristin had said, something that didn't make any sense, "Wait a minute. Annie isn't our birth mother. She told us so."

"She lied to you," Ted remarked, finally finding his voice again, "Annie is your biological mother and I am your biological father."

"You cheated on Mom twice?" Laurel exclaimed.

"No," Ted denied quickly, sighing, "I only had an affair with Annie. Rebecca blackmailed me for it."

"You're lying," Sutton cried, "Rebecca told me she was my mother."

"You knew who our mother was and you didn't tell me?"

Sutton froze and Emma could tell she had Sutton. She had made a big mistake admitting that. It exposed one of Sutton's lies and it gave Emma a little leverage. She understood exactly why Rebecca had told Sutton, and not her. Anyone who knew Emma, knew she took people for face value. If they didn't seem trustworthy, she didn't trust them. If Rebecca had told Emma as well, she would have to deal with Emma's doubt. She was more likely to be exposed that way. It was a brilliant plan on Rebecca's part, now Emma just had to use it to her advantage. Sutton turned to Emma and smiled, "That's right. She chose me over you. She wanted me to know first. She even agreed with me that we should keep it from you. How does it feel to be second best, Emma?"

"Sutton," Emma stated coolly, "She chose you, because she knew you were the easier mark. You have been so desperate to find your birth mother that you have been blind to the world around you. She knew she could fool you a lot easier than she could fool me. She used you to get what she wanted."

"Shut up," Sutton muttered.

"Come on, Sutton," Emma continued, getting right in her sister's face, "Do you really think a mother, after 17 years, would be able contain that secret? Face it, Sutton. You got played."

"I said shut up," Sutton shouted.

"Does someone want to tell us what's going on between these two?" Kristin questioned.

"Emma and Sutton switched places right after we got back from Paris," Laurel explained, "Emma 'stole' Sutton's boyfriend. Sutton made Emma's life hell. Emma finally decided to leave. Mads, Thayer, Ethan and I brought her back and here we are."

"Talk about making a long story short," Sutton muttered, "There's a lot more to it than just that," Sutton almost hissed, "Like the reason Emma came down here in the first place. Do you want to tell them or should I?"

Emma glared at her. Sutton was still trying to destroy her. She was still trying to get rid of her, but Emma wouldn't have any of it. Sutton would not win. She just couldn't. She turned her attention to Ted and Kristin, "I got set up by my foster brother for stealing and when he tried to _sexually assault_ me I hit him with a tennis racquet and ran out the back door. I was scared and it felt like my only choice. I was wrong to run and I'm not proud of what I did, but need I remind Sutton that those charges against me were dropped?"

"Only after I went to prison for you," Sutton retorted, "Where were you when I needed you to bail me out? Shacking up with my boyfriend?"

"First of all," Emma began, "You called at like two o' clock in the morning and you didn't even call me. You called your parents to expose me. And finally, Ethan had already broken up with you, so even if we were shacking up, which we weren't, there was nothing wrong with it."

"You stole him."  
"He chose me."

"Hold on. You were in prison," Kristin exclaimed.

"There was a warrant out for Emma's arrest and I was carrying her ID. I got caught in the mental hospital Annie was staying in and they shipped me off to prison. I spent a whole week in Vegas thanks to Emma."

"I thought it was a 'cool' place with tons of opportunities I didn't take advantage of, because it was easier to steal your life," Emma taunted.

"So you admit you were trying to steal my life."

"No," Emma continued, "I'm repeating what you said to me when you got back to Phoenix, or have you forgotten what happened at the cabin?"

"I remember you calling me a vindictive little bitch."

"Because you… " Emma stopped herself and breathed deeply. She would not finish that sentence. She would not attack Sutton in front of her parents. She would not make Sutton the bad guy. She was ready to fight for what she deserved. She wasn't ready to do it on Sutton's level.

"Because I what? Tell them, Emma. Tell them all of the horrible things I've done to you. Tell them who you think I am."

Emma remained silent for a long time before she dared to look at her expectant sister. She knew her eyes blazed with anger and she had to fight back the urge to tear Sutton apart. She shook her head adamantly, "No," she stated, "You want them to know, you tell them yourself. Sutton, you've made me do a lot of things I didn't want to do, but you won't make me stoop to your level, no matter how much you deserve it."

"Okay," Ted started, trying to prevent the two of them from killing each other, "Well I can tell there's lot to this story that you haven't told us, so why don't the two of you start from the beginning."

* * *

Ethan pulled up to the cabin to find Dan sitting on the steps, looking really irritated, "Where you been, buddy?"

"Fighting for the love of my life," Ethan stated, hopping onto the porch, "Isn't that what you told me to do?"

"Until eleven o' clock at night?"

"Yeah, the thing is Dan," Ethan started awkwardly. He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to figure out how to continue. Everyone had agreed to this and it still seemed so difficult. How was he supposed to tell Dan all of this? How was he supposed to be honest when the truth sounded more ridiculous than the lie? He took a deep breath and forced himself to continue, "who you think the love of my life is, isn't actually the love of my life."

"What is that supposed to mean, exactly? You're not in love with the Mercer girl?"

"No I'm not," Ethan stated, "I'm in love with her identical twin sister, Emma."

* * *

"Emma and I switched places the day after we got back from Paris. She was on the run and I had found a lead on our birth mother that led to Los Angeles. It was perfect. Emma got to hide out from the police and I got to find out about our birth mother. It was supposed to be two days, but things got...complicated. This isn't exactly how it was supposed to go."

"You went to Los Angeles…on your own?" Ted said, raising his voice. He was pacing the living room as his two daughters sat on the couch. Kristin was standing behind him. Laurel sat beside her two sisters, listening intently to the conversation. He'd wanted her to leave, but she'd refused.

"I wasn't alone," Sutton defended, "Thayer was helping me."

"Yeah that doesn't make me feel better," Ted stated, "How long were you there anyways?"

"Until the week before my birthday. Then I ended up in jail in Vegas. I got back to Phoenix the day of my birthday."

"And then you took your life back?"

"Not exactly. I'm the one that drove the car into the lake. That's how I really got that cut on my head. Annie saved my life and took care of me for the next week. We switched back after Mom caught me outside the ballet benefit."

"And then we switched back again when we found out that Derek was the reason Sutton went into the lake," Emma chimed in.

"He stowed away in the car and then popped up in the backseat when I was driving past the lake. He nearly killed me." Sutton responded, seeming aghast at how nonchalantly Emma had chimed in.

"So for the most part it has been Emma pretending to be you," Ted clarified.

"Yes," Sutton confirmed, seeming a little hurt by the fact that her parents weren't concerned that she nearly died, "She's the one that has been getting straight A's and bonding with everybody, you know the perfect twin."

The last part came out as a grumble that Ted almost didn't understand. There was some seriously bad blood between his two daughters. Sutton basically despised Emma and Emma obviously wasn't a big fan of Sutton either. The two were at each other's throats and he didn't know what to do about it.

"Are you seriously jealous of me, Sutton?" Emma questioned, "With everything you have and all of the people that care about you, you are seriously jealous of me?"

"You took everything from me," Sutton shouted, almost in tears, "My friends, my family, my boyfriend. It's just like Ethan said you took my messed up life and turned it around. You are a better me than me and I hate it."

"What do you want me to do? Apologize?" Emma spat, "I did exactly what you asked me to do. I lived your life so you could discover the truth. No matter how many times I told you to come back, you stayed. You left me here with all of your secrets and your lies and expected me to just sit back and relax. I tried. It wasn't possible."

"So you just decided to live it up. Take my boyfriend, my friends, my family, and prove to them just how horrible I am."

"Sutton, I don't get it. I know you think I stole Ethan from you, but there's got to be more to this than that. There's got to be another reason for why you feel like I'm stealing your life. Please, Sutton. What did I do? I thought I'd made it clear that I wanted you to take it back as soon as possible."

"You left me in that mental hospital," Sutton screamed.

"The mental hospital?" Emma questioned in confusion, "I didn't even know you were in a mental hospital until after you'd been released from jail."

"Don't lie to me. The doctor called you while I was still there to see if I was in Phoenix. Why didn't you come clean then? Why didn't you admit we'd switched places?"

Emma looked confused at first, but then something seemed to click in her mind. She looked at Laurel, "The rude woman on the phone," Emma realized, "The one you thought was from the credit card company."

Laurel seemed to understand what she was saying, "Right! She asked me if Sutton was there...in Phoenix and then asked me if she could talk to her."

"Then you handed me the phone and she basically just confirmed I was Sutton before she hung up the phone. She didn't say anything about who she was or what she was calling about. The phone call lasted barely a minute. Sutton, if I had known I would've said something."

"And you expect me to believe that?"

"That's what happened, Sutton," Laurel cried, "The woman asked me if Sutton was there in Phoenix. I told her I was looking right at her and then she asked to speak with her. All Emma said to her was 'yeah' to confirm that she was Sutton before hanging up the phone. Sutton, she was living your life. She couldn't admit that she wasn't with me standing in the room."

"You really weren't trying to steal my life?" Sutton questioned.

"No, Sutton," Emma assured, "I never wanted to take over for you. I was trying to help you, not hurt you. I'm sorry about what happened to you. I'm sorry I hurt you. I honestly was just trying to do what you asked me to do."

"I really thought you were trying to take over, and after the whole Ethan thing, I guess I just needed a reason to hate you even more."

"Why didn't you talk to me? Sutton, I've been trying to figure out why you thought I was trying to steal your life. I've been walking on eggshells, terrified of pissing you off again. What would possess you to do that? Were you just afraid to show anyone how much pain you were in?"

Ted saw his daughter's head whip around away from her. Emma had hit on something no one had been able to see before. When she got hurt she didn't like anyone to know it, but why?

Emma's eyes grew wide, "I'm right aren't I. You push everyone away to keep them from knowing how much pain you're in."

Sutton brushed a tear from her eye before it had a chance to fall down her cheek. Ted realized just how perceptive Emma was with this. Sutton had been lied to her entire life. When she found out the truth her whole world had come crashing down on her. She pushed everyone away to keep everyone from finding out how weak she had become.

"Why Sutton? Why are you afraid to let people know how you feel."

"Pain is weakness," Sutton admitted, "and I hate being weak."

"Sutton," Ted started, "When did you figure out we were lying to you?"

"A few months ago," she admitted, brushing another tear from her eye, "It was before we went to Paris when I found out about Emma that I realized you guys were hiding something. Then I found out Ruth Peterson was alive. Then I found out she wasn't my mother and it just sort of built on top of everything. When you started taking over my life it was just too much. First our birth mother chooses you and now everyone else in my life does. Yeah I was hurt and I did some things I'm not exactly proud of. I just felt…"

"Out of control? Like your whole world was crashing down around you and there was no one there to help you pick up the pieces?"

"Yeah," Sutton responded to her sister, "How did you know that?"

"We're not so different, Sutton."

"You mean perfect little Emma isn't so perfect after all."

"I never claimed to be," Emma noted, sharply, "Sutton I've been in foster care for 14 years. I've had 12 homes. You think all of them were these amazing people who loved me and took care of me like I was their own child? For most of them I was a little extra income."

"What do you mean?" Kristin questioned.

"If you're a foster parent, social services will reimburse you for taking in a child. You get a check that is supposed to cover the child's expenses. Some of them only see you as a way to get that money."

"Seriously?" Laurel questioned.

"That's what Clarice was talking about," Sutton realized.

"What?" Emma questioned.

"When I was in Vegas, Clarice came by Lexi's house. At first, she acted like she wanted to make things work, but as soon as Lexi and her mother left the room she grabbed me. She told me that they'd taken away her license to be a foster parent and that meant the checks stopped coming in. She said I owed her. I mean she was technically talking to you, but you get the point. She was talking about compensation for everything she'd done for you."

Emma was silent. She looked like she was trying to bury that part of her past. He suddenly understood what it was like to just boil with rage. His daughter was not supposed to go through this. She wasn't supposed to be tossed from home to home. She wasn't supposed to be abused. It was another way Alec had screwed him. He'd made him believe that Emma was dead. He'd made him miss out on his daughter's life.

He knew that was the sacrifice he'd been making when he only adopted one daughter, but he'd believed he could always check up on her. He had always thought he could make sure she was safe. That night when he thought Emma had died, part of him had died too. He'd been unable to protect his own daughter from her crazy mother. Now, he was feeling that all over again. This time, it was his best friend that had betrayed him. That one stung a little more.

"Is that everything?" Kristin questioned.

Emma and Sutton nodded.

"Well then, is there anything you want to know?" Ted offered.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for all of the comments and reviews. I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. Things got a little hectic and I just didn't have time to edit. Let me know what you think.


	9. Expectations and Surprises

"So let me get this straight," Dan Whitehorse started, pacing the front yard of the trailer. Ethan had just told him everything and he could not believe it. He could not believe his brother had gotten mixed up in something so crazy, "Sutton has an identical twin sister named Emma and she's the one you've been dating? You're kidding, right? This is some lying game you're pulling on me."

Ethan shrugged, "I wish it were, but Sutton is exactly who you thought she was. She never planned on taking us public. She didn't love me, but Emma…Emma is a completely different story. She was the strong one. She was the one that stood by me through everything. She's the one, Dan, and I don't think she'll give me a second chance."

"Why would you need one? What did you do?"

"I kissed her sister," Ethan admitted awkwardly, "Sutton came with me to the ranch. It was supposed to be Emma, but she was pretending to be Sutton and the cops got to her before we could make the switch. Sutton helped Dad and I work out some problems and things got out of control. I let my guard down and she took advantage. She's the manipulative bitch you always suspected her to be."

"But Emma's not?"

"No," Ethan scoffed, "not even close. She's honest and kind. She doesn't judge you for where you came from or what happened in the past. She sees you for who you are now. When I met her I found something I didn't even know was missing. She's my other half and I couldn't let her leave without a fight."

"So you drove to Las Vegas to bring her back," Dan clarified, taking a step toward his brother, "Now what? What's going to happen with all of this?"

"Emma and Laurel are telling Ted and Kristin right now while Mads and Thayer distract Rebecca."

"Why are they distracting Rebecca?"

"Because Sutton has been working with Rebecca behind our backs. I have a feeling it was the two of them that led us to the evidence against Alec, which means there's a chance that Alec isn't the one that killed Derek. Mads and Thayer are doing everything they can to keep Rebecca from finding out Emma's back so when Emma confronts Rebecca she doesn't have a chance to prepare."

"Sounds like you've got it all figured out."

"Except one thing," Ethan stated, taking a seat in one of the lawn chairs, "I have no idea how I can make what I did right."

"Only one thing you can do, brother," Dan responded, taking a seat next to him and taking a long pull of beer, "Prove to her that Sutton means nothing to you and you would do anything for her. Prove to her that you'll be there for her even when she doesn't want you to be. Don't give up on her. If it's right she'll come back."

"And if it's not?"

"It is," Dan responded, getting up and heading for the trailer door, "I see the way you look at that girl. In the months you dated Sutton, the real one, you never looked like that. Sutton never looked at you the way Emma does. The two of you are perfect for each other. You just have to remind her."

* * *

Mads and Thayer stepped into their living room, feigning surprise with the fact that she was there, "Rebecca," Mads greeted, "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for the two of you to get home," she explained, standing up, "Where have you been?"

"Thayer and I wanted to get away from all of the drama with our dad and Derek's murder. We're sorry we're so late, but Thayer's car got a flat and it took us a while to change it."

"Can you tell me where you went?"

"We went out to this overlook Ethan and Sutton told us about," Thayer explained, taking a seat on the couch. Mads quickly followed him, "We just wanted to get away from the scrutiny. Our dad did just go to prison for murder."

"And they'll eventually realize they have the wrong guy," Rebecca assured, "You guys want to talk about it? I mean I am your stepmother now. You can trust me."

Mads and Thayer smiled at each other. Everything was going to plan. If they kept Rebecca away from her phone and Laurel and Emma kept Sutton away from hers the two could not communicate. Rebecca would remain in the dark, allowing Emma to confront her without giving her a chance to compose herself. Everything was working out perfectly. They just needed it to go the same way on Emma and Laurel's end.

* * *

"So Rebecca's not our mother," Sutton clarified, "Why would she say that she is? Why would she lie to me?"

"Sutton, she played you," Emma stated, " Think about it, Sutton. We know that Alec bullied her. Now he's in jail. We know she loved Ted and she tried to destroy his marriage. She needed someone on the inside to help her, so she chose you."

"I'm sorry Sutton," Ted whispered, "I never meant for you to get hurt, for anyone to get hurt. If I knew then what I know now, I would've been honest from the beginning. I wouldn't have let the two of you be separated. I wouldn't have let anything happen to either one of you."

"Why did you separate us?" Emma questioned abruptly, "Why did you take Sutton, but not me?"

"It wasn't my choice. You were already gone by the time I found out there were twins. The Websters got to the hospital before I did. By the time I knew you existed, you were already in their arms. I tried to keep tabs on you, but Annie got you back and disappeared. I tried to find you, but I was too late. You were gone for good."

"So that's why you lied to me about having a twin," Sutton stated, "because you thought it would hurt me to know she was gone. What about how much it hurt to know you'd lied to me? What about when I found out she did exist?"

"You weren't supposed to find out. No one was supposed to know the truth."

"You lied to me," Sutton cried, getting more and more upset, at this point she was on her feet, her shoulders shaking with anger, "I have felt so alone and so lost for years, because I had no clue where I came from. When I found out I didn't have to feel that way it felt like someone had ripped a hole in my chest. I was so angry with all of the wrong people, because you couldn't just be honest with me."

"I'm sorry," Ted pleaded.

"You think that's enough," Sutton spat. She was two feet away from her father, trying to contain the tears that were threatening to scald her cheeks, "You took the one thing I had the right to know, the one thing I needed to know. Sorry isn't enough, Dad. Nothing will be."

Sutton stormed out of the room and made a beeline for her own, slamming the door closed for emphasis. She tried to maintain her composure. She took a deep breath and then another, but it only made her more furious. The paced the room, trying to contain the rage boiling inside her. She spotted a picture of her and Ted and wrenched it from its place and threw it in the trash. Beside it was her first tennis trophy. Her dad had been waiting for her after the match. It was the first time she'd ever heard him say he was proud of her. She threw it in the trash as well.

Finally, she pulled every single photo of him off of her wall and slammed it into the trash can as well. He was basically dead to her. She didn't want anything in her room that reminded her of him. She came to the last one and paused. It was two years ago during the family ski vacation. She'd come down with the flu two days after they got there and spent the next four in the lodge. On the fourth day of the trip her dad had offered to stay with her so her mom could go skiing with Laurel. At one point, she'd fallen asleep and buried herself into her dad's chest as if she was five years old again. In the picture, he was looking down on her brushing a strand of hair out of her face as he wrapped his arm around her.

Though she never admitted it aloud, she had always loved this picture. Her hair was a complete mess. She was dressed in sweats and a long sleeve sleep shirt and she had the flu, but the picture itself was perfect. It was the very essence of their relationship before she started to learn the truth. She had trusted him more than anyone else in her life. She had felt like she could be vulnerable with him. She had thought he would always be there for her.

Staring at the picture caused something to break inside of her. The dam that had been holding back the pain and anger she was feeling burst and she was consumed by more emotion than she could ever remember feeling. She dropped the picture on her bed and went to work. She went back to the pictures she was throwing out and started launching them across the room, listening to the glass shatter as it connected with the opposing wall, feeling herself let go with each release. They all landed in a heap of broken glass on the opposite end of the room from her, but it wasn't enough. She grabbed one of the tennis racquets off of her wall, remembering how he'd shown her a backhand. She stepped over to the bookcase, the one he'd spent hours trying to assemble on his own, and was about to slam the contents on the top of it to the floor when something stopped her.

Her racquet had hit something on the backswing. There was a thud behind her and she lowered the tennis racquet and slowly turned around. Lying on the ground was her twin sister with a cut on above her eyebrow where the rim of the racquet had connected with her forehead.

* * *

Emma felt the tennis racquet connect with the right side of her face and immediately dropped to the ground. Sutton had a ridiculously good backswing. It was her fault for getting too close to her sister, but as soon as she'd grabbed the tennis racquet she felt like she needed to make her presence known. She'd slipped into the room when the first picture had hit the wall and was about to call her name when another went flying across the room. Then another and another. Emma had realized that this was exactly what Sutton needed to do and had let it happen. Picture frames were easy to replace. The glass could be cleaned up. Then she saw her grab the tennis racquet.

She'd hurried forward, trying to stop her from doing serious damage to either the room or herself, not realizing just how close she was to Sutton. The racquet had connected with her right temple and sent her crashing to the ground.

For a few moments Emma was unconscious, but then her eyes began to flutter open. She had a splitting headache and she could feel blood trickling down her forehead. It wasn't the first time she'd been knocked unconscious, but she really hoped it would be the last. She hated how disorienting it was when she first woke up. She hated how far everything seemed to be from her. She forced her eyes open, reorienting herself with the situation.

She was on the floor of Sutton's bedroom, staring down the hallway toward the entrance. Sutton had hit her with a tennis racquet, but it hadn't been intentional. She'd been caught in the backswing. It was her fault, not Suttons. She suddenly became aware of the sound of sobs coming from behind her.

Sutton was leaning against the foot of her bed, crying uncontrollably, well as uncontrollably as Sutton would allow. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and her head buried in her hands. The pain had finally begun to sink in for her and she was letting it happen.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a mean backswing," Emma joked, pushing herself onto all fours. Sutton glanced up and showed Emma her tear-stained face. She raced over to Emma and helped her to her feet. Sutton would not let go of Emma's arm and Emma couldn't help but smile. Maybe Sutton had a heart after all.

"You're bleeding," Sutton stated.

"You hit me with a tennis racquet," Emma retorted.

"I didn't mean to," Sutton defended.

"I never said you did, Sutton," Emma responded with a smile.

"What are you even doing in here anyways?" Sutton deflected.

"Making sure my sister is okay," Emma explained, sitting down on the bed, "That is allowed, isn't it?"

"Why?" Sutton questioned, "I have done nothing to show you that I want, let alone deserve your concern. For God's sake, Emma, I just hit you with a tennis racquet. Why are you still doing this? Why are you still acting like you care about me?"

"I'm not acting, Sutton," Emma stated.

"Oh sure," Sutton retorted, "After everything that's happened, all of the things I've done to you, after everything I've done to all of the people in my life, you're going to try and tell me you still see the good in me. Save it, Emma. You're not fooling me."

Sutton turned away from her for emphasis. Emma was hurt by the venom, but she was used to it from Sutton. She looked around the trashed room. Every picture of Ted was missing from the wall, assumedly on the floor in the pile of broken glass. Then she spotted a frame sitting untouched on Sutton's bed. She grabbed the picture. It was one of her favorites. She'd always thought it was the perfect example of a father-daughter relationship. It's what she'd always wanted in a father. She didn't know the story behind it, but she'd always smiled when she saw it.

Sutton turned back to see Emma sitting on the bed. Emma glanced up at her, "This is one of my favorite pictures of you and Ted."

Sutton stepped over and stripped the picture out of her hands. Then she launched that one across the room as well.

"What the hell, Sutton? I know you're mad at him, but it's no reason to destroy a perfectly good picture."

"That," she stated pointing, "doesn't exist anymore. He ruined it when he lied to me. You know he used to be the one person I knew would never let me down. He used to be the one person I could be absolutely honest with. I trusted him and that whole relationship was a sham. I can't stand that picture anymore. It reminds me of..."

She choked on her tears and Emma felt her heart break a little. The pain Sutton was feeling ran deeper than just betrayal. It was like a jagged piece of glass had cut her and she was slowly bleeding out. She watched Sutton force herself to regain her composure by taking a deep breath.

"What, Sutton? What does it remind you of?"

Sutton remained silent, refusing to let herself be open with Emma. She bit her bottom lip to hold back the tears. She looked away from Emma. Sutton had been burned so many times that she now refused to be open with anyone.

"Alright, then let me guess," Emma stated, standing up slowly and moving toward her sister, "It reminds you of the pain you felt when you first discovered the truth. It reminds you of how alone you've felt, because no one could possibly understand what you're going through. More importantly, that picture is a constant reminder of the fact that everyone is capable of hurting you and the closer they are the more it hurts."

Sutton choked on a sob and Emma knew she was right. She pulled Sutton into her arms and let her cry. At first she wouldn't reciprocate. She just stood there stiffly, crying into Emma's arms. Then finally she felt Sutton's arms on her back and she smiled. She squeezed her sister tighter, letting Sutton know she wasn't going anywhere.


	10. Once Bitten, Twice Shy

"How are you not completely broken up about this? You got screwed even more than I did?" Sutton questioned Emma. She was looking at the cut on her forehead in the mirror as Sutton sat on the bed. It wasn't deep and you couldn't really see it unless you were close to her, but she still felt bad about what happened. Emma was the first person who'd made her feel like it would be okay. It had felt so good when Emma wrapped her arms around her. It felt like someone was telling her it was okay that she felt this way. It finally felt like someone was in her corner.

"Sutton, I have spent my entire life getting screwed by the people I was so supposed to trust," Emma stated, dabbing at the cut on her forehead, "You could say I'm a little desensitized to it." She turned back around and took a seat next to Sutton, "Besides, I have only known Ted for a few months now and I always knew he was hiding something. You just found out that your parents lied to you for your entire life. It's going to hurt you more than it hurts me."

"How could I be so stupid to fall for Rebecca's lies?"

"You weren't stupid," Emma assured, "You wanted to know the truth and you thought she was giving it to you. It's not stupid to trust people. It just sucks when it blows up in your face."

"You probably hate me for making you find out the way you did," Sutton realized. She could tell Emma wasn't just talking about Rebecca. Sutton had led Emma to believe she could trust her and then threw it in her face. Emma was creating a parallel between Sutton and Rebecca. What hurt was that Emma was right.

"Actually," Emma started, getting up off of the bed and walking toward the desk. She seemed to be putting as much space between them as possible. Whatever confession she was about to make, Emma knew Sutton might not like it. Awkwardly, Emma admitted, "I already knew walking in the door that you were lying to me about that. I mean I believed she was our mother too, but I wasn't surprised when you said it aloud."

"How?"

"Mads saw a photo of you looking at Thayer and I at the wedding," Emma admitted, picking up a picture of Mads from the desk. "You were standing in Rebecca's bedroom. It didn't take much to figure out why you might be there."

"And you acted otherwise, because?" Sutton questioned, taking a step toward her sister.

"Because I was hurt that you didn't want me to know about our mother," Emma responded, turning on her, "I mean I know we have our differences, but I thought that was the one thing we wouldn't lie to each other about. I thought we were both on the same page when it came to finding our mother."

Emma paused for a moment and let Sutton process how she'd hurt her. She was sorry about that too. Lying to Emma about Rebecca was possibly the worst thing she'd done. They'd started this to find their mother and when she thought she had, she kept it from her just so she could keep hurting her and using her. It wasn't fair and it certainly wasn't right. She took a seat back on the bed and refused to look at Emma. How had she been so cruel to her?

"Besides, it was nice to be one step ahead of you for a change," Emma stated. Sutton looked up at her sister and saw her own devilish grin on Emma's face. In that moment, Sutton realized Emma wasn't mad at her anymore. She was trying to move forward. She was trying to put what happened behind them. Sutton appreciated it, even if she didn't deserve it.

Sutton smiled at the deviousness in her own sister, "We really are twins, aren't we?"

"We have our commonalities," Emma responded, setting the picture back down, "More than you probably realize."

"What do you mean?"

She took a seat next to her sister, "This is not the first time I've sat in a trashed bedroom. It's just the first time it hasn't been my fault."

Sutton looked at her, utterly confused. What was Emma saying?

Emma got up and walked over to the window. She didn't look at Sutton, but began her story, "It was a year ago and I'd just been placed in my 11th home and moved to my 6th school. Nothing had been going my way all year. One day it just all became too much…"

A year earlier

Emma stood at her locker, shoving the books from her last class into her locker and pulling the next ones out. Even though it was no longer in a sling, her left arm was still basically useless. She balanced the books on the hard blue cast as she used her right hand to trade them out. It was difficult, but she was managing.

She was starting to settle into this new school. The teachers were fine with the fact that she didn't talk a lot in class. Most of the kids had figured out she wanted to be left alone. Things were going the way they were supposed to go. If she kept her head down and her guard up, she might be able to finish the year here without anyone figuring out why she'd really transferred.

Just as she was about to close her locker, a hand grabbed her shoulder and she heard, "Hey Emma."

Immediately she flashed back to that night three weeks ago. She could smell the whiskey on his breath. She could feel his hands sliding down her arms and his arms wrap around her waist. This would not happen again. She grabbed his wrist and twisted around, inflicting the same pain he had inflicted on her. The only issue was this was not the same guy. It was Sam from her French class, one of the few people who hadn't already written her off. She saw the fear in his eyes and released him immediately, feeling absolutely mortified.

"What the hell is your problem? I was just going to ask you for the notes from last class," he explained rubbing his wrist.

"I'm so sorry, Sam," Emma exclaimed immediately. She could feel the blood rising to her cheeks and she cursed her fear of surprises, "You just surprised me. Here, let me grab those notes for you."

"It's okay, Emma. I'll just get the notes from somebody else."

He stalked down the hallway and Emma became painfully aware of the eyes boring into her. She had nearly broken his wrist, because she thought it was _him_. She put her head down and raced toward the front entrance. She needed to get out of there. Her new foster home was only five minutes away and it wasn't like anyone cared whether or not she kept up her straight A average or even went to class for that matter.

She knew rumors had been flying ever since she walked in the door. When a girl walks into a new school in the middle of the semester with her arm in a sling and a 3-inch gash across her cheek people talk. Most accepted her bogus car accident story, but others wanted to send their own theories around the halls. She'd heard pretty much everything except what really happened.

"Emma," a voice called as she walked down the sidewalk. It was Lexi, the girl who sat right behind her in French class, and she was the only person Emma had said more than ten words to since she got there. It wasn't exactly Emma's choice, though. Every day Lexi had tried to strike up a conversation. At first she'd tried to politely answer in one or two words and then turn back, doing everything she could to get her to just leave her alone. By the second week, however, it became obvious Lexi was not backing down. They had become, by Emma's standards, friends.

"Leave me alone, Lexi," Emma responded, not turning back. She quickened her pace a little, but it didn't stop Lexi from catching up to her. She could tell Lexi was only a couple steps behind her and closing the gap.

"Not until you tell me what happened back there. You almost broke Sam's wrist," Emma could tell she was right behind her. She tried to quicken her pace and ignore Lexi, but she wouldn't let her. Emma felt Lexi's hand land on her shoulder, "Hey," Lexi called.

Immediately, Emma stiffened and threw Lexi's hand off of her shoulder. She turned on Lexi and got right in her face, "Don't touch me."

"Damn Emma," Lexi began, "You have some serious personal space issues."

"I don't like to be touched," Emma retorted.

"Why?"

"I just don't okay," Emma cried. She wanted to drop the subject. She had worked hard to keep what happened buried. She didn't need Lexi digging it up.

"There's got to be a reason, Emma. This isn't the first time you've freaked out over someone touching you. And when Sam did, you looked ready to kill him when you twisted his arm around. C'mon Emma. Just tell me what happened."

"It's none of your damn business," Emma spat at Lexi, "It's my problem and I'll deal with it the way I know how."

She spun away from Lexi and tried to stalk down the sidewalk. Just when she thought she was alone, she heard Lexi try one more time, "By shutting everybody else out?"

"It's easier that way," Emma retorted.

"For who?"

"Everybody," Emma cried, turning back to face Lexi.

"That's not true. You nearly broke a kid's arm today. How was that good for either you or him?"

"I didn't say it was good," Emma responded, "I said it was easy."

"Than what?"

Emma was silent. She looked away from Lexi, trying to hide the pain that was threatening to surface. She was so close to knowing the truth. She shook her head and tried to walk away, but Lexi reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Don't walk away from me," Lexi begged and once again she was transported to that night. She felt his grip tighten around her wrist. She remembered how he'd twisted her arm until the bones snapped. She remembered how he'd bashed a beer bottle into her face when she kept resisting.

"Let go of me," Emma cried, trying to wrench her wrist from Lexi's grip. She wouldn't let go and Emma grew more and more frantic. She felt a tear streak down her face and knew she was on the verge of a panic attack, "Let go! Let go! Let go!"

Lexi released her just as she pulled away. She fell on her hands and knees, but quickly pushed herself back up. She took off down the sidewalk toward her foster home, ignoring the pain in her right knee. She leaped onto the porch and threw the front door open as quickly as possible. She needed to be alone.

It wasn't until she got into her bedroom that she realized how upset she was. The tears were rolling down her cheeks. Her breath was uneven and rapid. She felt like she was about to just explode. She spotted a picture of her first family. They were the best family she'd been placed with. She'd stayed there for four years and at one point thought they might adopt her.

When they moved away, she'd come to realize that wasn't normal. In the past ten years she'd been placed in ten more homes. Four were abusive. Four were nothing special. They drove her to school. Actually remembered a birthday on occasion. She'd only had two other families that came close and they'd been the shortest stays of them all. It didn't feel like enough to her. Was she wrong to want more?  
Emma launched the picture across the room and listened to it connect with the far wall. She listened to shards of glass fall out of the frame as it fell to the floor. It was as if something had snapped in her. She pushed everything off of her desk. She tore every poster off of her wall. Everything held a memory. The good ones hurt too much to handle and the bad ones made her boil with rage. It reached a climax when she broke her bedroom window with a second place tennis trophy she got when she was 13.

The glass shattered and Emma felt her legs give out underneath her. There was no way she would be able to stay in this house any more. Her new foster mom was nice, but she had her hands full already. She didn't need to deal with her charge damaging her property. She started sobbing uncontrollably. Why her? What had she done to deserve this?

"Feel better?" Emma turned to see Lexi standing there. How much had she seen? Emma felt the tears begin to slow, but she still didn't want Lexi to see anymore.

"What are you doing in here?" She sniffled, too exhausted to point out the fact that she was trespassing.

"You weren't in a car accident, were you?"

She got up off of the floor and walked over to the bookcase, the only thing left untouched in the room. There were only ten that were actually hers, but she refused to damage them. Books had always been her escape. Breaking them felt like admitting there was no escape from this hell. She pulled the first _Harry Potter_ off of the shelf. When things had started getting bad, she turned to that series to get through it. She wanted to believe something like that could happen to her. She hoped that one day some random stranger would take her away from all of this and she would finally find her place. She would finally find people who she could be honest with. She was starting to believe that dream was only a fairy tale.

But then again, her was someone who seemed to be trustworthy, who seemed to genuinely care about her. Maybe Lexi was her random stranger. Maybe this was the beginning of her fairy tale ending. She kept staring at the book, but found her lips moving, "He came home one night as drunk as I've ever seen him. I was standing in the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water when he came up behind me. He grabbed my shoulders and then slid his hands down my arms until they connected around my waist. He told me it was time to pay up.

"I tried to get away from him," Emma continued, turning to face Lexi, "I made the excuse that I had homework to do, but he didn't buy it. He grabbed my wrist firmly and said, 'Don't you walk away from me.' He twisted my arm until the sound of bones breaking rang out in the air. He told me I would pay for disobeying and backhanded me across the face. He thought I would fall, but he apparently forgot about all the other times he'd done that to me. I stumbled backward, but managed to keep my feet underneath me. I tried to run away, but he grabbed the back of my shirt, spun me back around and backhanded me again only this time he used a bottle."

Emma became painfully aware of the jagged cut that almost didn't exist anymore. It had been a 3-inch gash on the top of her right cheekbone that somehow hadn't needed stitches and wouldn't leave a visible scar. That seemed to be the story of her life. For all of the abuse she'd endured, none of it was blatantly obvious. There was a faint scar here and there that someone could see if they really looked, but none that were identifiable.

"He must've grabbed it from the garage before he came in the house. It broke as he bashed it into my face, leaving that nasty cut on my cheek. I dropped to my knees and tried to maintain consciousness. Then a foot connected with my stomach. It connected another three times and I still wouldn't go down. I don't know why I fought so hard, but I did. I guess I just didn't want him to win. Finally something crashed down on the top of my head and I blacked out. The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital the next morning. My arm and three ribs were broken and I had a serious concussion."

"That sounds horrible."

"It was," Emma admitted, "but you could say I'm used to it. When I was ten I had a dad that threw things at me. They finally removed me when he hit me with an iron. I needed fifteen staples in the back of my head. When I was thirteen I had a dad come at me with a golf club. He broke my leg and fractured my skull with a nine iron."

She took a seat on the bed and felt her heart break again. It had been two days after she'd taken second in the regional tennis tournament. Darren had come home drunk from the golf course and took out his horrible game on her. She'd left out the fact that she was in a coma for three days. She hadn't mentioned that her lung collapsed when he drove the club into her chest. That man had nearly killed her.

The worst part was he was the reason she'd taken second in the tournament. He's the one that taught her how to play. She'd seen him angry, but never that angry. She'd trusted him and he'd taken advantage of her. She'd almost quit playing altogether after that. It felt like if she continued he would always own her, because he was the reason for her success.

When she went to her coach to tell her that she was done playing for good, she didn't try and hide the real reason from her. She knew what had happened. There was no reason to act like it was because of another reason. Her coach had looked at her and said, "He can never take credit for your success. He may have taught you the rules and the mechanics, but you're the one that put in the effort. You're the one that has done the work to get here and I would hate to see you walk away from something you obviously love because of what he did. That is how he'll own you, not because of how successful you'll become."

She threw herself into tennis after that. It became a way to release all of her pent up anger at the world. Things had gotten better for a while. She'd even made the tennis team at her last school, but then he'd come along and her new school didn't have a tennis team. That man had taken more away from her than she originally realized. No wonder she'd just trashed this room.

She felt the bed bounce as Lexi took a seat next to her, "What happened to you was horrible and I can't tell you that I understand what that feels like physically, because I don't."

Emma looked down. This was why she didn't let anyone in. They didn't get it. They didn't understand what it was like to never be loved by a parent. They didn't understand what a slap to the face felt like. They didn't understand what it felt like to be worthless.

"I do know what it's like to be angry with the world, to be a victim of circumstance. I know how it feels to have the universe stomp all over you for no apparent reason. You wonder why it happened to you and what you did to deserve it. You feel like everything's falling apart and you could just explode at any minute. Then one day, you just do."

Emma looked at her again and saw just how much Lexi understood. There was a level of compassion in Lexi's eyes that she had never seen before. She may not be a victim of abuse, but she certainly had been knocked down a couple times. Lexi smiled at her and then pulled her into a hug. It was the first time she'd had someone hug her like that in a long time and it was certainly the first time it actually felt right since she was nine years old. She wrapped her own arms around Lexi and let herself collapse into her new friend's arms. The tears rolled down her cheek and for once she didn't want to wipe them away. For once she felt like there was something worth fighting for.


	11. Where to Begin

Present Day

Laurel was still sitting on the couch after everything that had happened. For the past few minutes her parents had been dead silent, not exactly sure what there was to say. Sutton had stormed out of the room and Emma had quickly followed her. Now all three of them were waiting for the twins to get back. The conversation was about them. It was hard to have it without them.

"How did we miss this?" Her mom whispered, "How did we not know?"

"We always knew something was going on," Ted stated, "We just didn't know how serious it was."

"We're her parents. We should've known."

"No one knew," Laurel uttered.

"She didn't want us to," Ted defended, ignoring Laurel's comment.

"But why? Why does she feel like she has to hide her pain from everyone? Why is she so concerned with looking weak?"

"You're kidding, right?" Laurel interrupted, "You really have no idea why Sutton wouldn't want people to think she was weak?"

"What do you know, Laurel? What aren't you telling us?" Ted questioned.

"Do you know how many times Sutton has been insulted, because she was adopted? Do you know how many jokes have been made at her expense, because she was 'abandoned' or 'unwanted?' The only way she could make it stop was to make everyone think twice before crossing her. Fear gave her power and power gave her immunity. No one could touch her as long as she kept up the mean girl act."

"But why didn't she talk to us when it first started?" Kristin questioned.

"That is a question you'll have to ask Sutton," Laurel stated, "Only she can tell you the real reason why she doesn't want to confide in you."

* * *

Emma wiped a tear away from her eye as she finished her story. She'd forgotten just how much her and Lexi had been through. Lexi was the only reason she'd actually survived that year. She had become Emma's other half. While Emma was quiet and soft-spoken, Lexi was loud and over the top blunt. She was never afraid to tell Emma off or just be honest with her. It was nice to have someone like that when everyone else seemed to be lying to her. She was the reason Emma had become so optimistic. When Emma had given up on going to college, Lexi had been the one to keep pushing her forward. When Emma had tried to give up tennis again, Lexi dragged her to the court with everyday. She was a terrible tennis player, but it was a nice to have someone there, rooting her on. She'd done what no one else had been able to do for Emma. She'd made Emma believe in herself again.

She was still looking out the window when she realized it was now time to face Sutton. She turned back to her sister and smiled, "I told her everything and she became the best friend I ever had. No matter how upset or angry I was, no matter how many times I tried to push her away, she was always there for me. For a long time she was the closest thing I'd ever had for a sister."

"Then you met me," Sutton uttered, "I must've been a real disappointment compared to Lexi."

"You're not as bad as you think," Emma assured, taking a seat next to Sutton on the bed. She could tell Sutton was beginning to understand just how much damage she'd caused. At this point, Emma really didn't care about the past. She just wanted to move forward, "You are a pain in the ass sometimes," Emma acknowledged, "and you haven't made it easy on me, but I didn't exactly make this easy on you either. I meant it when I said I was sorry. I never meant to make you feel like I was trying to take anything away from you. I really was just trying to help."

"I know, but I was jealous and well, I'm obviously not exactly the most secure person in the world. Everyone just loved you so much. Laurel, Ted, Kristin…"

"Ethan?"

"Thayer," Sutton finished, "It just felt like I was losing control of everything and I wanted to get it back. It felt like there was only room for one of us and since it's my life you were the one that had to go. I'm sorry I made out with Ethan…twice. I'm sorry I tried to kick you out of my life. It was wrong of me."

"Wait a minute," Emma stated, "Did Sutton Mercer just apologize?"

"Ha-Ha," she glowered, "Emma, you're the first person to figure out why I've been such a colossal bitch for so long. Emma, I didn't even realize why I was acting that way. Then…when you hugged me, it just felt right. All of a sudden I didn't feel alone anymore."

Sutton got up off of the bed and picked up the picture of Ethan and Emma at Homecoming. How had that picture, of all the pictures, remained untouched through Sutton's tirade? It was a picture of the night Emma had stolen Sutton's boyfriend. It was the night their entire relationship had gone awry. Why had she spared that photo? It seemed like Sutton didn't know either. She seemed to be trying to understand it herself as she gazed at the picture. Sutton, finally, turned back to her and Emma could see that her sister was on the verge of tears.

"I'm sorry for how I've treated you," she cried, "I used you to get what I wanted and I never realized how much I was hurting you in the process. I wish I could take it all back. I wish we could just start over and act like the switch never happened. I did mean it when I said I wanted to be sisters all those weeks ago. I just didn't know what that actually meant. I do now and I want you to know that I mean it again. I want to be sisters, Emma…or real this time."

"I want that too," she stated softly, "But I'm not the only one you pushed away. Laurel, Kristin, Mads. They just want you to talk to them. They want to be there for you if you would just let them in."

"I know."

"But you're scared."

"I don't want to get hurt again. I let Rebecca in and she used me. My dad and I were so close before all of this happened. When I found out he'd been lying to me it just hurt so much. I don't think I could handle it if it happened again."

"What happened to: Sutton Mercer, she can handle anything."

Emma imitated her sister's hair flip and saw Sutton brighten just a little. She herself smiled. Already, things were more comfortable with Sutton. One of the things Emma had learned in foster care was it was futile to live in the past, usually because the past wasn't worth living in. She wanted to move forward with Sutton. She wanted to get past all of the drama of the past few weeks. In all honesty, she just wanted to be a part of a family.

"I don't want to be her anymore," Sutton admitted, "She lies to everyone just so she won't fall apart. She pushes everyone away just so she won't look weak. It's exhausting to be her."

"Trust me, I know," Emma breathed.

"I guess you do," Sutton admitted, "I still don't know how you did it. You convinced everybody that you were me and you did it so effortlessly. That's probably why I was so jealous of you. I don't think I ever expected you to pull it off."

"Sutton, I've spent 14 years learning how to adapt," Emma admitted, "At this point, it's second nature."

"It's still pretty impressive," Sutton complimented, "I mean doesn't Ethan love you for your honesty and you managed to deceive everyone into thinking you were someone you're not. Looks like lying and deceit are genetic."

"Sutton I know this isn't what you want to hear right now," Emma warned, realizing Sutton still didn't understand what their father had been through, "but in Ted's own twisted way he was just trying to protect you. I get why you would be angry with him, but I honestly think he's trying to make it right. He is our father after all. Maybe we should give him a chance."

"A chance to hurt us even more? Emma, I don't think I can do that. I'm not as forgiving as you."

"Don't you want to know the truth? Sutton, it sounds like he was just as much a victim of this massive lying game as we were, and I'm pretty sure he's just as over the lies as we are, maybe even more. I mean did you see his face when he saw me. Our own father thought I was dead. Do you know how much that must've hurt him?"

"You really think he'll be honest with us?"

"He's our dad and he hurt us. I'm pretty sure he's willing to do anything to make things right. Ted is not a bad guy. He screwed up and he doesn't know what he needs to do to make it up to everyone."

"Maybe you're right," Sutton acknowledged, "You've been right about everything else today."

"You ready to go back out there?" She questioned, ignoring the spite that oozed from Sutton's voice.

"I think so," Sutton stated standing.

Emma followed her to the door but then grabbed her arm before she could leave, "Sutton wait," she ordered. There was one more thing she had to make clear, and it had to do with something that was only just now hitting her. She took a deep breath and began, "I didn't take Thayer away from you. I couldn't even if I wanted to."

She smiled, "Can I give you some advice?" Sutton requested in her ever so Sutton tone.

Emma was concerned. What advice could stem from what Emma had just said. Was she going to tell her to stay out of her business? Was she going to tell her she was wrong about Thayer? She wasn't. She knew that much.

"Give Ethan another chance. He loves you and what happened at the ranch was entirely my fault. He was trying to be friends and I'm the one that took it too far. This morning, he came by looking for you and I didn't fool him for a second. I tried to make another pass at him and he completely shot me down. He doesn't have feelings for me anymore. I can guarantee you that."

"Really?" Emma questioned.

"What you don't believe me? I told him you were gone and never coming back. I told him there was nothing standing in the way of the two of us being together. Then, I tried to kiss him but he threw my hands away from his face and slammed me into the front door. He told me that even though you were gone it didn't change how he felt about me. He wants you, Emma. Nobody, but you."

Emma watched her sister step out of the room and for a moment she just stood there. She wanted to believe Sutton so badly. Ethan was her first love and twice now he'd almost been her "first." The issue was that Sutton was always the one that stopped them. Maybe this was a sign. Now, instead for pulling them apart, Sutton was pushing them together. How ironic was that?

* * *

Kristin saw Sutton and Emma walk back into the room and felt her heart break a little. Sutton had been crying over what Ted had done to her. She didn't want to break up her family over a mistake eighteen years earlier, but it was hard to see her daughter in pain. It was going to take a lot of time to repair all of this damage, but she was ready to do it. She only hoped Sutton was too.

They took a seat on the couch and for a moment, everyone was silent. Emma was looking at Sutton and Sutton was looking at her shoes. She looked like she had something to say, but she just didn't know how to say it. Finally, she looked at Ted and said, "I'm sorry for running out like that. I just couldn't handle it."

"What couldn't you handle?" Ted questioned.

"The pain," Sutton muttered, accenting the fact that she'd been crying with a sniffle, "Hearing you try to explain away all of your lies was just too much for me. All of the pain I'd been pushing down came back up and I lost control."

"Why didn't you just talk to us in the first place?" Kristin questioned, "Why didn't you tell us what was going on?"

"It wasn't like you could help," Sutton admitted, "You certainly couldn't understand."

"What we didn't understand was why you were pushing us away so adamantly," Kristin scolded, "It felt like everything we did was wrong. Every time we tried to help you just pushed us farther and farther away."

"I was angry, okay," Sutton spat, "You and Dad lied to me for seventeen years. For years I thought I had no chance of knowing where I came from. When I found out you just didn't want me to it broke me, but I didn't want anyone to know that."

"We could've helped you."

"No you couldn't," Sutton responded, getting off of the couch, "You have no clue what its like to feel abandoned and unwanted. You have no idea how easy it is for someone to use that against you. There is only one person in this room that could understand and I didn't know she existed up until a few months ago and she was part of all of the lies. I wanted to talk to you. I wanted you to understand, but you were part of it all. You were the reason I felt that way. How could I possibly say that to you? How could I admit to my parents that I hated them?"

With her daughter's eyes glistening with tears and her shoulders shaking in anger, Kristin finally understood. The two people she was always supposed to count on had stabbed her in the back. To Sutton it probably seemed like her whole world had crashed down on top of her. She no longer knew whom she could trust or what was actually true. Her world had been flipped upside down by the two people that were supposed to keep her grounded.

"I don't hate you," Sutton backtracked as she regained control of her emotions, "I just felt so betrayed and it just hurt that much more because you were my parents. I didn't see it coming and I couldn't control it when it happened."

"We made mistakes, Sutton," Kristin stated, "But we're trying to make it right. I'm sure your father is willing to answer any questions you have about what happened all those years ago, right Ted?"

Ted nodded.

"And you'll be honest," Sutton confirmed, looking at her dad.

He nodded again, "I won't make that mistake again. It's already cost me too much."

Sutton took a seat back on the couch next to Emma, "Where do we begin?"


	12. Heart Breaks, Heart Heals

"I still don't believe it," Mads breathed, "I can't believe that my father could've killed Derek."

She was sitting next to Thayer on the couch in their living room, putting on the show of her life. She assumed that things were going as planned considering no one had texted them otherwise. It was up to her to keep it that way. She felt Rebecca's hand on her knee and she fought the urge to push it away. This woman was a pathological liar and probably couldn't actually be trusted. In any other circumstances she wouldn't have tolerated it, but she had to, for Emma's sake.

"Justice will prevail," Rebecca assured, "You can trust me on that one."

"I hope you're right. I mean it sure as hell beats the alternative."

Rebecca smiled at her and for the first time, Mads seemed to see the real her. She no longer looked kind and understanding. She looked devious and calculating. She actually reminded Mads a lot of Sutton when she was planning a lying game. Mads smiled back, trying to hide how utterly terrified she was of what this woman was capable of.

* * *

"How did you find out about me?" Sutton heard Emma question. They were still in the living room and Emma had finally dared to break the silence. It was a good starting question. The secret of the twins was the reason everything had gone off track. It made sense to find out just how early in the plan that happened.

"I went to the hospital after Annie had both of you," Ted explained, "She kept going on and on about her _two_ girls and how wonderful they both were. I was so confused at first, but then Annie said she'd had twins. By that time the Websters already had you and I couldn't take you away from them. I knew they would give you a good home and I had to be okay with that."

"Alec's the one that told you about the fire?" Emma confirmed.

"I'd asked him to find Annie and figure out a way to get you back. I would tell Kristin the truth if I had to, but I couldn't bear the thought of you being in her care. As the two of you have seen, she's not exactly the most stable individual and I wasn't sure I could trust her with you. Alec called me one night and said that he'd found Annie, but that he was too late. You were gone."

"So you decided to keep the secret going," Sutton clarified.

"It made sense at the time," Ted admitted, not looking at either one of them. He seemed to be rationalizing the whole thing himself, trying to figure out why he thought it was a good idea, "Emma was gone and there was no reason for you to know you had a twin only to find out she'd died when she was three. There was no reason to tear my family apart over it."

"What about now?"

"I hate the fact that I hurt anyone. It wasn't supposed to go like that. This was supposed to protect you, not hurt you. I'm sorry. I really am."

"Please," Emma interrupted. She looked exhausted and almost sick. Sutton had glanced at her a couple times through the conversation. With each admission from Ted her resolve had grown wearier. By this point she looked about ready to crumble, "Stop saying you're sorry. I spent 14 years in foster care because you were too scared to tell the truth. 12 families, more than 100 stitches, over 10 broken bones, and a hell of a lot of heartbreak, because you couldn't own up to your mistake."

She'd risen to her feet and Sutton could see herself in her sister. The anger, the pain, everything was a mirror to what she'd been feeling for months, except Emma had been repressing this for years. Sorry didn't fix anything. It didn't change what happened. It didn't make her feel better about it either. It was a sign of remorse. It was supposed to make things okay, but there was no way to make it okay. Emma had been battered, beaten, and broken down. She had been nothing for so long and she was staring at the one person who could've changed that. It was too much for her to handle.

"You know I almost died when I was 13 after my foster dad came at me with a nine iron. I probably would've if someone hadn't called the cops on him. I was in a coma for three days. The bastard fractured my skull. He hit me so hard in the chest my lung collapsed. Do you know how many times I have wondered what I had done to deserve it? I have felt like nothing for years. I have felt worthless and alone for most of my life, because of you."

"Emma," Ted sighed. Her eyes blazed with a fury Sutton hadn't seen before, not even at the cabin on the night of her party. It was a fury fueled by years of repressed pain. At the same time, her eyes were glistening with tears and Sutton knew she was on the edge of a break down.

"I know you thought I was dead," Emma admitted, her voice cracking with the threat of the dam breaking, "I know you thought I was safe with the Websters. I know you tried to make it right, but it's not. I missed out on a mom and a dad. I missed out on a family. I went through years of abuse, because of a decision you made for me."

Emma turned away from him, but Sutton knew she was crying from the soft sobs that filled the silent room. She looked at her dad and began to understand just how much this was hurting him. He looked like he was on the verge of tears himself. Emma may have been through hell, but her dad was still there. He had to listen to the details of his daughter getting assaulted by strangers, because he didn't fight for her. He looked away for a minute to recompose himself and when he did Sutton saw something. It was in his eyes. It was a new determination that Sutton rarely saw from him.

"You didn't miss out on a family because of a decision I made for you," Ted stated, taking a step toward her, "You missed out on a family because of a decision Alec made for me. Emma, if I had known about you I would've fought for you, no matter what the cost. If I had known you were still alive I would've come to get you."

"Why didn't you take me back as soon as you knew I existed?" Emma demanded, not allowing him to see the pain she was in, but only hear it in her voice, "You were my father," she breathed, "You had rights to me."

"I didn't know where you were," Ted explained, almost angry. He didn't move from where he was, but looked at her pleadingly. He wanted her to understand. "They'd already left the hospital and Alec refused to give me the information on them. He said it was too risky and he wouldn't let me ruin my life. I told him I didn't care, but he wouldn't budge. He said that I wasn't the only one with something to lose. I did manage to track them down, but not before Annie took you away."

"You looked for me?" Emma questioned, finally daring to look at him. A tear stained her cheek and she was obviously still in pain, but the fury was gone. It had been replaced by something more innocent and more common of Emma. She couldn't place the emotion, but it certainly wasn't hostile anymore.

"I tried to let the Websters raise you. I told myself that I was looking for you just to make sure you really were okay, but that wasn't the reason at all. Deep down I wanted you back. I did everything I could to find them, even with Alec blocking me every step of the way. When I found out Annie had taken you, he finally agreed to help me. Back then I thought it was because he knew Annie was too unstable to take care of you. Now, I think he was just trying to cover his own ass. He helped me track her down and then he went to Fillmore to get you, or I guess fake your death. The rest is history. Emma, I wanted you back so badly. As soon as I found out Annie had taken you I didn't care what happened. I wanted you back from her and if it meant coming clean to Kristin I was willing to do it. You are my daughter and I would do anything for you."

Emma wrapped her arms around Ted. He was slow to put his own arms around her, but eventually he did. She watched Emma look up at him and she heard her whisper, "Don't let me go. Don't let them take me away again."

She buried her head into his chest and held him tight as Ted's shoulders dropped. He bent close to Emma and whispered back, "No one's going to take you away this time. You're home, Emma. You're finally home."

* * *

_ASPCA commercial…Arms of the Angel by Sarah McLachlan…How it felt to watch her dad get dragged off in handcuffs_. This was what Mads kept thinking about as she forced herself to cry in front of Rebecca. They'd been talking for at least half an hour and she needed a stunt to keep Rebecca from leaving.

"I mean I know my dad and I didn't always get along," Mads began, brushing a fake tear from her eye, "But things were finally looking up, you know. I was finally beginning to trust him again. I thought I could confide in him. Now, all of a sudden, he isn't here and he's the talk of the town in such a bad way. God, now I know how Sutton felt when everyone turned against Ethan."

"Everything worked out for Ethan, didn't it?"

"I guess," Mads admitted.

"Everything will work out for you dad too. You just have to trust me."

Mads saw that devious smile come across Rebecca's face and wanted to just cringe. She smiled back, but not for very long. The whole thing was getting really uncomfortable and she hoped it wouldn't last much longer.

* * *

Emma squeezed her dad tightly. She hadn't meant to lose it, but hearing him say he was sorry for the umpteenth time had broken her. She began to remember all of the abuse she'd endured and all the families she'd had. Hearing him say he was sorry when all he had to do was fight for her was just too much. She had tried to hold her feelings back, but in the end she had to be honest.

Her dad had wanted her, though. He had looked for her. She didn't have to be mad at him, because it wasn't his fault. It had taken 17 years, but she had finally found where she belonged. She had a family, friends, love. Everything was falling into place. She had forgiven Sutton and she could forgive Ted for what he'd done. It was a mistake that he was obviously sorry for. It was something that she could tell Kristin was trying to understand. She wasn't going to throw away a chance at a relationship with her father, because of the way she and Sutton had been conceived. She'd waited years for this. She couldn't lose it now.

She let go of Ted and smiled. He wiped a tear away from her eye and smiled, "You don't know how many times I've wished I could have done that."

Emma let him brush the hair out of her face and fret over her like a real father would. It was then that he noticed the cut above her eye. He brushed a drop of blood away and looked at her with concern. Emma shook her head, begging him to just let it go. He was her dad though and he just couldn't.

"You're bleeding. What happened?"

"It's no big deal," Emma deflected, pushing Ted's hand away, "When Sutton and I were talking I tried to open the window, but it got stuck. When it finally opened it hit me in the head. I'm fine, really."

It took everything she had to not look at Sutton when she said it. She hoped Sutton would give her this last lie. Sutton didn't need to have this conversation with her parents right now. Emma didn't even think she could. Sutton had already been more honest with herself in the past hour than in her entire life. Anymore touchy, feely, emotional moments and she might lose it.

Ted seemed to buy it and turned his attention to Sutton, who hadn't said a word in a long time. Right now she looked confused and uncertain, as if she was trying to figure out a Calculus problem without ever taking Calculus. Something was on her mind and Emma had a feeling she knew what it was.

"Sutton?" Ted questioned, "Is there something wrong?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy that you and Emma just had this great moment, but I can't stop thinking about Rebecca," _Yep, she knew what it was, _"I know you said that she's not my mother, but after all of the other lies you've told why should I believe this one? Is there anyway you can prove this to us? Is there anyway you can show us without a doubt that Rebecca is not our mother."

"Besides a maternity test? Well, actually, there might be one way. My blood type is B positive. Yours is AB positive. That would mean your mother would either have to have type AB or A blood. I remember Rebecca once came to the hospital in LA. She was there to see me, but she used the blood drive as her excuse. She told me her blood type was B positive."

"So if I ask her about her blood type, she'll confirm it."

"If not you can have a blood test done. It will come back faster, but if you want definitive proof you'll have to have a maternity test done."

"Then let's ask her," Emma offered.

* * *

Thayer felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out. Rebecca was focused on Mads explanation of how she was feeling about this whole situation. Thank God Mads was putting on a show. It left him to keep tabs on the rest of the plan. He looked at the text from Laurel:

_Phone's about to ring for Rebecca. Make her answer it._

About thirty seconds later, Rebecca's cell phone rang and Mads stopped talking. Thayer grabbed her leg and forced her to look at him. He'd set his phone down on the couch and signaled for her to look at it. When she realized what was going on she smiled at Rebecca.

"Aren't you going to get that?" Thayer had said while Mads was figuring out what was going to happen.

"The two of you are far more important," Rebecca answered, "I can call this person back later."

"No really," Mads jumped in, "It's fine. Go ahead and take the call. We'll give you some privacy."

Mads and Thayer stood up and walked out of the room, just far enough that Rebecca wouldn't see them eavesdropping, "Do you know what's going on?"

"Not a clue," Thayer admitted, "Something must have happened at the Mercer home."

"What do we do?"

"Play along."

"What?" Rebecca snapped at Sutton.

"I'm sorry to bother you so late, but I just need you to clarify something for me. Ted is my biological father, right?"

"I told you that weeks ago," Rebecca stated, "What are you getting at?"

"I think I might have a way to get Emma back in town, but I need some more information. I'll explain it all tomorrow, but for now you need to trust me."

"Alright," Rebecca conceded, "What do you need to know?"

"What's your blood type?"

"What?"

"Your blood type. I've decided to come clean to Emma, but she's never going to believe me unless I have definitive proof that you are our mother. Blood doesn't lie you know."

"It's B positive," Rebecca replied, "Sutton, I don't see how this is going to help get Emma back in town."

"I told you, you have to trust me, Mom. This is going to work."

"Okay," Rebecca said skeptically, "but you better have a good explanation."

"Trust me," Sutton stated, "This will all make sense in the morning."

* * *

Sutton hung up the phone and looked to her father. She'd put on an act for Rebecca and it had worked, but part of her didn't really want that. She almost wanted him to be wrong, just to stop all of the lies. "You're right," she uttered, "Rebecca is not our mother."

"I'm sorry you got caught in her web of lies, sweetheart," Ted stated, going to pull her into a hug.

"It's fine," Sutton waved him off, "I mean everybody else has lied to me. I should've just expected she was lying to me too."

"Sutton how many times am I going to have to say I'm sorry to you?"

"I didn't mean for it to sound like that," Sutton backtracked. She hadn't either. She just still couldn't believe she'd been fooled again. Everyone seemed to be hurting her. Her automatic reaction was to hurt them back. She hated it, but she didn't know how to turn it off. "I know you're sorry. It just hurts so much, Dad. You and Mom were supposed to be the two people I could always trust. You were supposed to be the ones that never lied to me. You were supposed to be there for me."

She started sobbing and she felt someone wrap their arms around her. At first she thought it was Emma again, but when she went to hug back, she realized there was more to this person than Emma. They were taller and stronger than Emma. It was her Dad. She went to push him away, but he only tightened his grip, "I'm here for you now."

"How do I know?" Sutton questioned, finally pushing him off of her, "How can I believe that when you're the one that hurt me the most."

She didn't look at him but she could tell he was staring at her intently, "Because I'm still standing here. Sutton," he grabbed her shoulders and shook them gently, trying to get her to look at him, "No matter how much you try and push me away I will always be waiting for you to let me back in. You can do everything in your power to hurt me, but in the end I will never walk away from you. I will always be there for you when you need me."

Sutton choked on a sob and the dam burst for the second time today. The tears exploded from her eyes and she melted into his chest like she used to when she was five years old. He wrapped his arms around her and just held her close. Her dad had promised to be there for her and she knew he meant it. There would be no more lies, no more secrets. She believed him. She had to believe him. He had no reason to lie to her anymore. As he held her there, she realized this is what she wanted. It was what she'd always wanted and now she finally had it. She wasn't going to risk losing it now.


	13. Changed Plans

The following morning, Emma walked down the hallway from the guest room, already smelling the pancakes Kristin was making. After buckets of tears and a lot more honesty than Emma ever realized was possible in the Mercer household Ted and Kristin made the executive decision that neither Emma nor Sutton would go to school today. Laurel had tried to get out of it too, but they'd forced her. It was her punishment for driving out of the state without telling them.

Kristin let Ted stay in the house. They were willing to work things through. Everyone knew it would take time, but it had become very clear that Ted had fallen prey to one of Alec's tangled webs. He'd been trying to protect his family and although he'd done it in the wrong way, it was for the right reasons. Kristin was willing to get past it. Sutton and Emma were too.

Emma rounded the corner to see Sutton sitting at the kitchen counter with Kristin flipping pancakes onto a plate, "Emma," Sutton greeted, "Sleep well?"

"Great," Emma answered, smiling, "Are those pancakes?"

"You like them, right?" Kristin questioned.

"Love them," Emma corrected taking a seat next to Sutton. She took three pancakes off of the plate and put them on her plate. She covered them in syrup and took a bite. They were just as good as the first time she had them, "Thank you."

Kristin smiled, "You're welcome."

Emma took another bite of pancakes and then glanced at Sutton's plate. Of course she would be eating a spinach egg-white omelet. Her sister was a little too obsessive about eating healthily. She took a sip of the orange juice in front of her and savored every bite of her not-so-healthy blueberry pancakes.

"Okay," Kristin started, "There are some things that we have to get done today. You don't just get the day off."

"Like what?" Sutton questioned, taking a small bite of her omelet.

"Well we do have to get Emma enrolled at Arroyo and explain everything to the administration. We have to notify social services where Emma is and I have a feeling the two of you would like to speak with Rebecca as well."

Sutton and Emma both perked up at the last one. They both wanted to ream Rebecca for lying and preying on their own insecurities. The other two were the ones they were both dreading. There was no telling what was going to happen at school and Emma just didn't want to deal with social services ever again. She'd had to deal with them for 14 years. She didn't want to deal with them a second longer than she had to.

"Can we start with Rebecca?" Sutton questioned, "The more people who find out Emma's back the less chance we have at an honest conversation with her."

"And I don't think either one of us wants to wait all day for that one," Emma added.

"Alright," Kristin conceded, "Rebecca's it is. Now the two of you finish eating and go get ready. We have a lot to take care of today and I don't know how long it's going to take."

Both Emma and Sutton took a bite of their breakfasts and smiled. Emma knew the thought of confronting Rebecca would make the rest of the day worthwhile and she had a feeling Sutton felt the same way. The two of them had been careful not to let Rebecca know Emma was back in town. As long as Sutton had stayed true to her word, they were safe. If she'd secretly warned Rebecca earlier in the day then they were screwed. This was Sutton Mercer. Even after everything last night, she may still be playing a game.

* * *

Just after third period, Mads found Laurel at her locker. The girl had been invisible up until now and obviously there was a lot they needed to talk about. She tapped Laurel on the shoulder, "Hey," she began, "what the hell happened last night? I thought we were supposed to keep Rebecca and Sutton away from their phones. Why were they talking?"

"Because Rebecca played us," Laurel explained, slamming her locker shut, "She's not their mother."

"She's not?"

"Hey," Ethan's voice floated into the conversation, "What's going on?"

"Laurel says Rebecca isn't their mother," Mads explained.

"What do you mean?"

"Their blood types aren't compatible," Laurel explained, "Sutton is AB positive. Both Ted and Rebecca are B positive. Rebecca can't be their mother."

"Couldn't Ted not be the father?" Ethan questioned.

"He has no reason to lie about that," Laurel stated, "It hurt my mom more to know that he was the father than to think he had an affair with Rebecca. My dad may have cheated on my mom, but I don't think he wants to make things worse by covering it up with even more painful lies."

"Does that mean your dad cheated on your mom with two different women?" Mads questioned.

"No," Laurel continued, "He cheated once with a woman named Annie Hobbs. Rebecca was blackmailing him."

"I thought Annie told them she wasn't their mother," Mads said.

"Are you saying Annie lied to them?" Ethan confirmed.

"Is it really all that surprising? Everyone else has lied to them," Laurel spat in irritation.

"So what exactly is the plan now?" Mads questioned, "What's going to happen with Emma and Sutton."

"There is no plan, at least not for us," Laurel explained, "Look guys, we no longer have a say in all of this. It's Sutton and Emma's fight. There is nothing we can do except wait for it to play out."

Laurel walked toward her next class. Mads sighed and turned to Ethan, "You know all hell is about to break loose, right?"

"Wasn't that the whole point," Ethan questioned, "We brought Emma back because she wanted a family and we wanted to spite Sutton. You had to understand that this is where this was leading."

"I knew," Mads admitted, "I just never accepted it."

She stalked down the hallway, thinking about what all was about to happen. The truth was about to be revealed. The whole world was going to know what these two girls had been up to for so long. It scared Mads, though. Told the wrong way, this whole story could make both of them sound absolutely crazy. She liked Emma and she didn't want her to get screwed over again. It had happened too many times before and she did not want to see it happen again.


	14. Just Desserts

Rebecca opened the door of the Ryback home, surprised to see Kristin standing on the front step, "Kristin," Rebecca greeted, "I didn't expect you to ever speak to me again let alone show up on my doorstep. How are you doing?"

"Better than you would think," Kristin admitted, "Can I come in?"

Rebecca stepped out of the doorway to let Kristin in. Although she hated to see the woman who'd taken Ted away from her, she couldn't very well make it obvious. She led Kristin into the living room and offered her a seat, but she didn't take it.

"Ted actually came by the house and explained everything to me," Kristin started, "We've talked and have decided to work through our problems."

"Oh," Rebecca responded, trying to hide her disappointment, "Well I'm glad you can be so forgiving after Ted's and my history together. I could never just let go of a betrayal like that."

"I love him. I can't just throw that away over something that happened such a long time ago. Besides, his daughters need him. They've been through so much already and it would benefit them to have their father around. I can't deprive them of that. It wouldn't be fair."

"You'd do anything for those two girls, wouldn't you?"

"Yes I would," Kristin admitted, "I love them and I want what's best for them. It's what a mother does, Rebecca."

"Laurel and Sutton are lucky to have you as a mom," Rebecca replied, doing everything she could to hide the disgust for Kristin and her perfect world. What would she do if she knew the truth? What would she do if everything came crashing down on her?

"Thank you," Kristin replied, "but as Sutton loves to remind me I'm not her mother."

"Oh that's right, Sutton's adopted. Sometimes I just forget with how much she looks like Ted," Rebecca hinted.

"Yeah," Kristin responded, smiling, "We used to get that a lot with her. People would say she looks just like her father, not realizing that she was adopted. I always assumed people were seeing what they wanted to see."

"I guess," Rebecca acknowledged.

"I mean that's what people do isn't it? They look for what they want to find. They see patterns and similarities when there really aren't any."

"When you really want something, you can be blinded by it."

"And sometimes people use that to hurt others. I know I've had my fair share of people use Sutton's adoption as a way to hurt me. God even Sutton has used that against me. It can hurt so much to be fooled by someone you trust."

Rebecca was getting suspicious of this conversation, but she wanted to see where this was going. From what she knew about Kristin she could trust her. She was an honest straightforward person. Maybe she was just trying to relate to Rebecca and put the past behind them. Then again, maybe she did have an ulterior motive. No, it couldn't be that. This was Kristin. She didn't have a deceptive bone in her body, "I'd bet."

"I wonder what goes through those people's minds. I mean, how do they prey on those vulnerabilities? How do they gain a person's trust only to betray them with it? It doesn't make sense to me."

"I couldn't help you," Rebecca deflected.

"Oh but I think you can," Kristin stated, "I mean isn't that what you did to Sutton?"

Rebecca paused. What was Kristin talking about? How did she know about that? Things were starting to unravel and it was up to her to tie the loose threads, "I'm sorry, but I don't think I understand."

"I think you do," another voice entered the conversation that made Rebecca's blood run cold.

* * *

Ted watched as Alec took a seat across from him. After everything that happened last night, he needed to have it out with his so-called best friend. The man had lied to him for 14 years just to cover his own ass. He'd subjected Emma to years of endless abuse. He'd nearly torn his family apart doing what he thought was best. This time he really had screwed him.

"Ted," Alec greeted, "I'm surprised to see you here after our last conversation. I mean you were pretty pissed at Rebecca and I."

"A lot has happened in the last two days. I was wrong to blame you and Rebecca for a mistake I made."

"I'm glad you're taking ownership for what happened 18 years ago."

"Oh I'm not talking about sleeping with Annie," Ted retorted, "I'm talking about trusting you."

Alec paused for a moment, "What are you saying, Ted? I've had your back through all of this. I've risked my career on countless occasions to keep your secret safe. How can you say I'm not trustworthy?"

"Last night Kristin called me over to the house," Ted began, "Laurel disappeared. She left a note saying that there was something she had to do and she couldn't tell us where she was going, or when she would be back."

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine. She came home around eleven last night."

"What does this have to do with me, Ted?"

"She wasn't alone. You know who was standing with her?"

"You got me?"

"My daughter, Alec. The one you told me died in a fire 14 years ago. The one you swore was dead, because you'd seen her remains. How could you lie to me about that and then dump her in the foster system in Nevada? I thought you were my friend. I thought you had my back."

"I was protecting you," Alec spat, "You were about to tear your family apart over this girl. You were about to risk my career for her."

"She was my daughter, Alec."

"I did what I thought was best," Alec defended, "You couldn't see it, because you were so freaked out about Annie having her. Putting her in foster care was the best thing for her."

"How? She nearly died when she was 13 because her foster father went after her with a nine iron."

"So I made a few mistakes along the way," Alec admitted, "I've made up for them. Emma's life could've been a lot worse if I hadn't checked in on her. I'm the one that got the charges on Emma dropped. I'm the one that got Sutton released from jail. I was the one that saved her that night when she was 13 and last year as well. I might've put her in foster care, but I also made sure she survived it. Let's not forget what I've done for Sutton down her. I've kept her out of a lot of trouble here in Phoenix as a favor to you. Don't act like you don't remember."

"Nothing you've done in the last 14 years could make up for the pain you put me through when you made me believe my daughter was dead. Everything Emma has been through is on you. You're the reason Annie took her away. You're the reason she ended up in foster care. You're the reason she needed saving in the first place."

"I did what was best for everybody," Alec shouted again.

"No," Ted denied, "You did what was best for you and now I'm doing what's best for me."

Ted walked away from his seat and left his closest friend behind. Alec had screwed him over on more than one occasion. He subjected Emma to years of abuse. He subjected Ted to a level of pain he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy. He nearly tore Ted's family apart. That wasn't what a friend did.

"You can't walk away from me," Alec shouted, "I could bury you with the information I have on you."

"Then bury me," Ted responded, turning back, "You don't control me, Alec, at least not anymore."

He slammed the door to the room closed and walked down the hallway to leave the police station. He was done with Alec and surprisingly he was okay with it.

* * *

Sutton stepped into the living room of the Ryback home and smiled at the bitch who'd used her. Emma was still hiding around the corner. They'd come in the front door silently and stood off to the side listening to every word of the conversation. She kept her hands behind her back, hiding the last piece of the puzzle from everyone

"Sutton?" Rebecca greeted, "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Some things are more important," Sutton stated, "For example, confronting the woman whose been lying to me for weeks now."

"I'm sorry, Sutton, but I don't follow," Rebecca evaded, "What is this about?"

"You know exactly what this is about. Do I really need to say it aloud?"

"Kristin, could you give us a moment?"

"I think that would be best," Kristin responded, "I'll be out in the car."

Kristin slipped out of the room and Sutton waited for the front door to slam closed and then she smiled at Rebecca, "So, when were you going to tell me that you were playing me?"

"Sutton, what are you talking about?"

"Last night I called you about your blood type. You said you were B positive. Do you know what my dad's is?"

"Not a clue," Rebecca admitted.

"It's B positive. Do you know what mine is?"

Rebecca was silent.

"AB positive. So that means that either you are not my mother or my dad is not my father. One way or another you're lying and I would like to know which part is true."

Rebecca smiled and laughed a little too devilishly, "You know Sutton if you want to talk about lying and betrayal we could talk about you. What happened to not telling anyone? What happened to keeping all of this a secret? That was your idea remember?"

"I remember. I remember how you promised me this would all work out for the better. I remember how you made it seem like we were both going to get what we wanted. You had hoped Kristin would refuse to speak with him. You had hoped he would run into your arms like it was supposed to be all of those years ago. I had hoped that you were right. Well Laurel screwed that up."

"How?"

"Laurel disappeared last night. She said nothing about where she was going or when she was coming back. Luckily she eventually came back, but my mom freaked and called my dad. They started talking and the whole truth came out. You didn't sleep with my father. You blackmailed him about sleeping with Annie. You're not my mother. Annie is. You used my need to find my real mother to exact your revenge on Alec and my dad. I trusted you and you betrayed me."

"Oh Sutton," Rebecca cooed, "Why would you believe Ted over me? He could just as much not be your father as I could not be your mother."

"Either way you lied to me."

"You don't know that. I could've made a mistake. You don't know who else I might have been sleeping with at the time."

"Yeah," Sutton stated, "except there is this."

Sutton pulled the file out from behind her back and pulled out the paternity test her dad had given her this morning. It proved without a doubt that he was their father.

Rebecca snatched the report out of her hands and read it. _Busted_. She looked up at Sutton and for a moment she saw fear in Rebecca's eyes, but then she blinked and it was gone. She smiled again, "So what's your next move, Sutton? You've proved I'm not your mother. You know the truth about your birth parents. You have your family to yourself. You got everything you wanted and I expect you kicked more people down than I did to get it. Mads hates you. Your twin left you. I'm surprised Thayer still speaks to you after everything you've done to him. The only thing left is Ethan. How many people are you going to betray to get him?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means we're not all that different. Don't forget that when you point the finger at someone else there's always three pointing back at you."

"Don't act like Sutton is the same as you," Emma's voice floated into the room. Sutton turned to see her standing in the doorway looking livid, "She's seventeen years old. She found out her parents had been lying to her for her entire life. You've been holding a grudge toward a man you tried to ruin 18 years ago because he didn't love you. Sutton got hurt because she dared to trust her parents. You got hurt because you built up a world that didn't and couldn't exist."

"Never thought I'd see you sticking up for the girl who tried to screw your boyfriend, Emma. Are you really falling for her act again? When are you going to learn, Emma? She's been playing you this whole time."

"When are you going to learn, Rebecca, that I'm not as naive as you think? I didn't put up with Sutton's crap because I believed she wasn't trying to ruin me. That was obvious the first time she tried to get me to leave. I stayed because I care about these people, Sutton included."

Rebecca paused as if to compose herself, but then she continued, "You know I'm the one who told Sutton she needed to get you back here. She didn't even want to bring you back. She was happy to let you go back to Vegas and never speak to you again."

"You think that Sutton was the one that brought me back? Wow, you give her way too much credit. You seriously think after everything she's done to me she would have any say in this?"

"I thought you said Mads and Thayer were the ones that drove her to the bus station," Rebecca said to Sutton, "That they were willing to let her go."

"They were," Sutton responded, "Laurel wasn't."

"Laurel?"

"Apparently, we're not the only ones capable of keeping secrets."

"Laurel knows?"

"For a long time now," Emma explained, "Apparently we aren't as good at lying as we thought."

"Where exactly is this going?" Rebecca questioned, obviously trying to regain control of the situation, "I mean why did the two of you really come over here?"

"To give you a chance to explain yourself," Emma stated.

"You're lucky Emma is such a good person, because I would've just slapped you across the face," Sutton explained.

"The two of you seemed to have all of it figured out," Rebecca stated, "It doesn't sound like you need an explanation."

"Then I guess we're done here, right Emma."

Emma nodded and Sutton dragged her toward the door. Just before she left the room she turned back to Rebecca, "Don't try and explain yourself to Thayer and Mads. They already know the truth."

She pushed off of the doorway and stomped down the hallway, a hint of a smile crossing her face. Rebecca was right that she had treated her friends poorly, but not anymore. She was done doing that sort of thing. She needed her friends. She was wrong and all of them needed to hear it.


	15. Similar, But Not The Same

After school, Laurel let Thayer, Ethan, and Mads into her house, hoping that her parents would understand. They had been in on this from the beginning. They deserved to know what exactly was going on. Giggling floated into the hallway from the kitchen, "Did you see his face when the two of us walked in?" Sutton questioned, "He looked like he was going to have a heart attack."

"You're lucky he was too confused to be angry," Kristin scolded, "He could've done a lot more than what he did."

"Detention every day and we have to make up all of our assignments? How much more could he have done?"

"He could've just failed us for the semester and forced us to repeat our junior year," Emma acknowledged, "Or there was always summer school."

"Alright fine," Sutton conceded, "It could've been worse, but how are we supposed to make up more than half a semester worth of work?"

"It'll help that both of you are grounded for the next three months," Kristin scolded.

"Three months? That's-"

"Sutton," Emma stopped her, "Shut up before it's six."

Laurel decided now was as good a time as any to enter the living room, "Hey guys," she greeted, "How'd everything go today?"

"Great," Sutton responded, "Emma and I are officially on lockdown for the next three months."

"Do you think that could start tomorrow?" Laurel questioned, "Because there are three people standing in the hallway that would really like to talk to Emma and Sutton."

Thayer, Mads, and Ethan stepped into the room, looking a little awkward, "We just want to know what's going on," Thayer admitted.

Kristin looked at the visitors and then to her daughters, "You've got fifteen minutes," she responded, stepping out of the room. As soon as she was out of earshot Mads went to Emma.

"So, what happened today?"

"Well, I'm sure Laurel told you that Rebecca is not our mother, so we went to talk to her first."

"How did that go?"

"I have to admit," Emma continued, "Sutton was incredible."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Rebecca walked right into our trap. Sutton didn't give her a chance to get out of it. When did you get that paternity test?"

"Dad gave it to me when he was leaving this morning. He apparently had it done right after I was born to make sure that I was his daughter. He gave it to me so Rebecca couldn't act like he wasn't the father. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it, but you were asleep and I didn't want Mom to know about it."

"No it was brilliant," Emma admitted, "Rebecca obviously didn't even know it existed, let alone that Ted had hung onto it for all of these years."

"Wait," Thayer interrupted, "Paternity test?"

"It was how we took Rebecca down," Sutton explained, "My dad had a paternity test done after I was born to make sure he was in fact the father. He's been keeping it in a file box in the back of his closet in case someone ever tried to take me away. He gave it to me this morning to ruin Rebecca."

"So what exactly did she say?" Ethan questioned.

"She tried to compare herself to Sutton," Emma explained, "That was the only time I actually got involved."

"Are they really that different?" Mads muttered.

Silence enveloped the room and Laurel could see how much that hurt Sutton to hear. Emma grabbed Mads by the arm and pulled her into the hallway, leaving the whole room to just stare at each other awkwardly.

* * *

Mads ripped her arm out of Emma's grip, "What the hell, Emma? You know better than anyone that she isn't that different from Rebecca."

"They acted similarly, but they aren't the same. Mads, Sutton has been hurting and no one has been able to fully understand. She was lied to by the very people she was supposed to trust. She lashed out and she was wrong to do that, but it's not like she didn't have a good reason."

"What about Rebecca? Didn't she lash out at the people that hurt her, bullied her, made her feel like crap?"

"She lashed out because Ted and Alec had the audacity to tell her to back off and when she wouldn't, made her. She was in love with Ted and when he didn't reciprocate, she blackmailed him. She believed in a reality that never would or even could exist."

"So I'm just supposed to forgive Sutton for lying to me and completely screwing you over?"

"No, but it wouldn't hurt to try and understand. Mads, I'm not condoning her behavior. She was wrong and she knows that. I'm just suggesting you give her a chance to explain."

"After everything she's put you through, how can you just forgive her?"

"She's my sister, Mads. I'll always forgive her."

Emma smiled and Mads had to look away. This girl was too good. She was too nice. If she could let go of all of the crap Sutton had put her through, why couldn't Mads? Sutton was her best friend and she had lied to her. She hadn't trusted her. Mads didn't get that. Mads didn't understand how that could be possible.

"You don't have to forgive her," Emma stated, "but will you at least talk to her?"

Against her better judgment, Mads nodded, "Send her out here."


	16. Forgiveness

Emma stepped back into the living room sans Mads. Sutton and Mads needed to have a private conversation. That much was certain. "Sutton," she called, "Mads wants to talk to you."

"Does she?"

"Go," Emma urged, "This is the conversation you've been wanting."

Emma let Sutton pass her and then took a step toward Ethan. He was standing off to the side, trying to stay out of the way. She looked at Laurel and Thayer, "Could the two of you please give us some privacy?"

They nodded and slipped onto the porch. Laurel closed the door and Emma finally dared to look at Ethan. It felt like her heart was breaking all over again, but she needed to have this conversation with him.

"Emma," he tried to start, but Emma put her hand up.

"Don't," Emma responded, trying to hold back the tears, "Is it true?"

"What?"

"Did Sutton come onto you yesterday?"

Ethan sighed and nodded, "But-"  
"Stop," Emma demanded, "Did you push her away?"

Ethan nodded again, "I did more than that. I told her never to touch me again. I told her there was nothing between us and there never would be. I told her it didn't matter whether you were here or not. She meant nothing to me."

"Then what the hell happened on the ranch? Why did it go so far?"

"I was missing you and she had helped me out with some things with my dad and I don't know. There was a fire and for a moment she reminded me of you and it just happened. We kissed, but I stopped her before it got any farther."

Emma turned away to wipe the tears away from her eyes. She couldn't look at him. She couldn't let him hurt her anymore and yet she was still standing there. She was still waiting for him to take the pain he'd caused away.

"Emma," Ethan said, "I knew from the moment it happened it was a mistake. I know you weren't there to hear it, but when I thought it was you at the prison I said that it meant nothing, that she meant nothing. I am in love with you, Emma. How many times do I have to say that?"

"Until I believe you," Emma shouted, turning to find him standing ridiculously close to her. She took a moment to recompose herself and lengthen the distance between them before continuing, "Ethan, I feel like your second choice. Sutton hurt you so you chose her twin sister, but every time Sutton shows some sort of morality she always seems to get you back. Even if it's only for a moment, she somehow manages to trap you again and again and again. How do you think that makes me feel?"

"What do you want me to do?"

"Prove to me that she means nothing to you," Emma demanded, "Prove to me that I'm not your second choice."

Ethan looked at her with determination. His eyes glistened with tears and she felt the knife dig a little deeper into her heart. Then, he spoke, "I have never fought so hard for something in my entire life. I have never driven across state lines for Sutton. I've never even driven across county lines for her. I let Sutton date Luke and never felt an ounce of jealousy. I see you hugging Thayer at the wedding and I have to leave to keep myself from completely losing it."

"You were at the wedding?"

"I went there to talk to you, but when I saw you hugging Thayer I thought I was going to do something I would regret. I left before you could see me and went back to the trailer to cool off before I talked to you. It didn't really help. You still wanted nothing to do with me."

"Do you blame me? Ethan you broke my heart. You kissed my sister and then you lied to me about it. I asked you point blank if anything happened and you said no. I was willing to forgive you if you had just been honest with me."

"I'm sorry, okay? I made a mistake."

"Why did you hide it from me? Why did you decide not to tell me after you'd already come clean at the prison?"

"I don't know. I got scared I guess. You were on the verge of tears and I didn't want to hurt you anymore."

"It hurt more when I found out you were lying."

"I know that now."

"Don't ever do that to me again."

Ethan paused for a second, "Wait, does that mean?"

Emma grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him into a deep kiss. There were immediate sparks that Emma had forgotten were there between them. There lips molded together and Emma felt instantly comfortable. When they finally separated she could still feel the sparks on her lips.

"I love you, Ethan," Emma admitted, "Don't make me regret it again."  
"I won't," Ethan promised, brushing a strand of hair from her face, "You won't ever have to worry about that again."

* * *

At the same time, Sutton was standing in the hallway with Mads, unsure of what she was supposed to do. It felt like the first time she'd seen Mads since she knew the truth. She didn't know what to say. She'd burned Mads and she didn't know how to apologize for that.

"Look Mads," Sutton began, but stopped when she saw Mads' hand go up.

"Don't," Mads ordered, "Don't tell me you're sorry. Don't tell me you want to make things right. Just please answer me one question."

"Anything."

"Why didn't you confide in me? I thought we were best friends. I thought you trusted me."

"I didn't even trust my own parents," Sutton exclaimed, "Do you really think I was capable of trusting anyone else."

"You confided in Thayer."

"I needed his computer genius in finding out some information and someone to help me when I was in LA."

"So you used him?"

Sutton was silent. She had used Thayer in more ways than Mads realized. She felt bad about the way she had treated everyone, but Thayer especially. She had used his feeling for her to spite Ethan. That wasn't fair. It certainly wasn't right, but then again what was about Sutton's actions? She had used all of them. She deserved everything Mads was saying to her. Every drop of venom, every stab to the heart. She deserved it all and more.

"You made me feel like I was doing something wrong. I felt like I was losing my best friend and that it was my fault. You pushed me away. You pushed everyone away. Why? Why can't you let anyone in?"

"I don't know," Sutton shouted, "I just…"

"What? Sutton, talk to me."

"I was scared, okay?"

"Of what?"

"My parents lied to me for my entire life. If they're capable of fooling me, who knows who else is? I have put too much work into getting to the top to get knocked down now."

"So you don't trust me."

"I didn't trust anyone," Sutton admitted turning away from her, "The two people who are supposed to always be there for me couldn't do that. The two people I'm supposed to trust lied to me. I was hurting and I didn't want anyone to know it."

"But why?"

"I didn't want to look weak."

"You think confiding in your friends makes you look weak."

"Relying on other people makes me weak."

"How is that working out for you?"

No answer.

"Sutton, relying on other people doesn't make you weak. It makes you that much stronger. I admit that I probably have no idea what you've been feeling, but it would've been nice to know what that was."

"I'm sorry," Sutton breathed, "I should've told you. I just didn't know how."

"Don't ever do that to me again," Mads ordered, "Or we really won't be friends anymore."

"Does that mean?"

"Come here," she said spreading her arms out. Sutton walked into them and the two friends embraced each other. It felt right, but there was something else Sutton knew that was keeping it from being perfect. There was something she still hadn't explained to Mads. If she wanted her to be honest, then she would have to know the truth.

"There is something else you don't know," Sutton stated, pushing Mads away, "It's the real reason I hate Ryan."

Mads looked at her expectantly. She crossed her arms and waited for Sutton to continue. She took a deep breath and tried to phrase what she needed to say.

"Ryan was my…first," Sutton admitted, "And it didn't exactly end well."

"Wait, so you and Ryan…"

"Slept together?" Sutton finished and then nodded, "It was freshman year. It ended badly and I made sure no one would ever figure out what happened between us."

"He was our first lying game victim," Mads realized, "He's the reason you started that?"

"I didn't mean to make it a game. I was just trying to get back at him."

"For sleeping with you?"

"For taking my virginity and not giving a damn about it," Sutton answered angrily, "Apparently, I'm still not exactly over it."

"Is that why you came onto him at the Black and White Ball?"

"There's that and the fact that Ethan had left me to go shack up with my sister in my family's cabin. Oh and the fact that Laurel told me she liked Emma better. It had been a bad night and I guess I was just trying to salvage it."

"Sutton…"

"I know Mads. I was wrong. I shouldn't have taken out my bad night on you. I'm so sorry."

"You know this all makes a whole lot more sense now. I never really understood why you hated him so much."

"Well now you do," Sutton admitted, "Look Mads, I didn't tell you to cast him in a bad light. I just thought you deserved to know why I'll probably never be his biggest fan. I'm not trying to dissuade you from dating him. He obviously really cares about you and he seems like he's changed. He's yours Mads if you want him."

"And if I don't want him?"

"You don't have to worry about me, Mads. He's so not my type."

"And what is your type?"

Sutton blushed. She knew exactly what her type was, but she didn't want to admit it. She wanted a guy who loved her for her, who was always there for. She wanted a guy who wasn't afraid to tell her off, but understood where she was coming from. Sleeping with Thayer was not a mistake because it had happened. It was a mistake because of why it had. Thayer was not supposed to get hurt and she'd hurt him badly. How was she supposed to fix that? How could she apologize for what she'd done, especially when she wasn't sorry it had happened? There was no right way to say this. She wished there were, but there wasn't. After everything, how was he supposed forgive her?

* * *

"It looks like Ethan and Emma have made up," Thayer stated, after seeing the two of them hold each other in the living room.

"Are you okay with that?" Laurel questioned.

"You think I'm into Emma now?"

"Why wouldn't you be? She's kind, honest, loving. She's always there for you. She cares about you. How can you stand to see him get her after what he did?"

"Because they're meant to be together," Thayer explained, "And you know my heart already belongs to someone else."

"Sutton? What has she done to deserve your heart?"

"Remember she's your sister too."

"I know, but she hasn't exactly acted like one and she sure as hell hasn't treated you like a friend, let alone a boyfriend."

"I can't explain it, Laurel," he admitted, "There is just something about her. I do care about Emma, but I care about her like I care about Mads. Sutton is an entirely different feeling."

"I don't get it," Laurel admitted, "How do you love her after all of the pain she's caused? How do you act like it didn't even matter that she's been using you?"

"Why can't you?"

"Because I've seen who she could've been," Laurel responded, "I've seen how loving and honest Emma is and I hate the fact that she was not the girl I grew up with."

"Laurel, just because they're identical twins doesn't mean they are the same person. There's no telling what they would've been like if Emma had been the one adopted and Sutton had been the one who'd ended up in foster care. She may have ended up even more hurt and angry than she already is."

"What do you mean?"

"Sutton's been lied to for her entire life. You're telling me that wouldn't hurt you? You're telling me you wouldn't have wanted to hurt the same people who hurt you?"

"But how did I hurt her? How did Emma hurt her? How did anyone besides our parents hurt her?"

"Jealousy."

"Jealousy?"

"You're Kristin's daughter, her miracle. You have a bond with her that Sutton can never share. For a long time she believed that was true with her father as well. She felt like an outsider in her own family."

"And that makes it okay?"

"I'm not saying that," Thayer responded, frustrated, "I'm just saying that maybe you shouldn't be so quick to condemn her. Sutton tried to sleep with Emma's boyfriend. She kept things from her that she really should've been honest about. She played her and Emma's willing to forgive her. She's willing to move on. Why can't you?"


	17. A New Beginning

Ethan sat on the couch waiting for everyone to get back from their own conversations. Every once in a while he had heard Mads' or Sutton's voice carry into the living room, but not enough to know where it was going. It had been silent for a while and he expected them to get back soon. Emma sat next to him, but she hadn't said a word in several minutes.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she said quietly, "Why?"

"You've been really quiet."

"Just thinking."

"About what?"

"I keep thinking I'm going to wake up and this will all be gone. I mean I go from having no family, not even a place to stay to having my dad, my sister, and so many other people who care about me. It's just so hard to believe all of this is actually happening.

"Isn't that what you wanted?"

"It is, more than anything in the world," Emma admitted, "It just always seemed so far away. I guess I never really thought I could have it."

"But you do," Ethan assured, "You have everything you could ever want. Why are you so afraid to lose it?"

"Nothing good has ever lasted very long for me. I'm afraid that's the case now. I'm afraid I'm going to lose this just like everything else."

"Emma," Ethan said taking her hand on his knee, "It's time to stop living your life in fear. You have enough people in your life to keep you up that you don't have to be afraid of falling."

"I know," Emma admitted, "It's just, after 14 years of that being untrue, it's really hard to believe now."

Ethan pressed his lips to hers and let her melt into him. When he released her he brushed a strand of hair from her face and smiled, "It's true, Emma. No one's going to let you fall. Not anymore."

* * *

Sutton stepped into the living room and grimaced. Ethan and Emma were sitting on the couch with their foreheads pressed together. It wasn't that she wasn't happy for them. She was glad Ethan and Emma had gotten back together, but did they have to be so damn happy about it. They were one of those couples: the ones that can't stop looking at each other and are always smiling. It was nauseating, especially when she knew there was no chance she would have that after everything she'd done.

She shook the nausea away and smiled, "Oh how cute," she cooed, "I knew the two of you would figure it out."

"Seriously?" Ethan questioned.

"Actually Ethan," Emma sighed, "Sutton is the reason I gave you a second chance. You should be thanking her."

Ethan looked shocked, "You? What did you do?"

"I am capable of letting go of something that is never going to happen."

"Is there someone else?" Emma questioned.

Sutton glanced toward the porch where Thayer and Laurel were standing. They had spotted them and were starting to reenter the room. She glanced back at Emma, "Of course not."

"Alright guys," Kristin ordered, "It's time to say goodbye to Emma and Sutton for a long time. They're officially on house arrest."

Mads hugged Sutton and Emma before turning away. Ethan pulled Emma into one last kiss and then followed Mads to the hallway. Thayer pushed past both of the twins to stand beside Mads and Ethan. Sutton smiled at them and waved before they disappeared down the hallway. The one person she had really wanted to talk to was the one person who she hadn't had a chance with. How was she supposed to apologize when she couldn't see him for three months? How was she supposed to make things right? She heard the front door slam and felt instantly disappointed. Thayer was gone for now and there was no telling if she would ever get him back.

Emma saw Sutton's shoulders drop. Though she hadn't acted like it, she knew whom her new crush was. She'd seen her glance toward the porch. She'd seen the way she looked at him as he walked by. She saw how disappointed Sutton was that he was leaving. She loved Thayer. She wanted him. She needed him, but she would never admit that after everything she'd done.

"Okay you two," Kristin said, interrupting her thoughts, "Phones, now."

Sutton pulled hers out of her pocket and handed it to Kristin. Emma walked over to her bag, which was leaning against the island in the kitchen and pulled out the burner phone she'd been using and her actual cell phone. She handed them to Kristin.

"Rooms," she ordered.

Both her and Sutton turned on their heels and headed toward their rooms. At the hallway they turned away from each other and headed to opposite sides. Emma was about to enter her room when she heard Sutton call, "Hey Emma!"

"Yeah Sutton."

"Thanks."

Emma smiled, "No Sutton, thank you."

* * *

A/N: So this is the end of this story, but I'm planning on doing a follow-up as the epilogue. It will be a completely separate story so keep your eyes open for it. Thanks for all of the great comments. I hope you enjoyed it and hopefully my next story will be up very shortly.

A/N: The epilogue will be up soon. It's called "Shattered" and I hope all of you enjoy it.


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